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 -r./,s '/,//,< 
 / / 
 
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 n.I.'ll,
 
 HISTORICAL 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 MY OWN TIME. 
 
 PART THE FIRST, 
 FROM 1772 TO 1780. 
 
 PART THE SECOND, 
 
 FROM JANUARY, 1781, TO MARCH, 1782. 
 
 PART THE THIRD, 
 
 FROM MARCH, 1782, TO MARCH, 1784. 
 
 By Sir N. WILLIAM WRAXALL, Bart. 
 
 Igitur ubi Animus requievit, non fuit Consilium Socordia atqne 
 Desidia bonum Otium conterere ; neque vero Agrum colendo, aut 
 venando, servilibus Ofliciis intentum, /Etatem agere. Sed a quo 
 incepto Studio me Ambitio mala detinnerat, eodem regressus, 
 statui Res gestas carptim, ut quaeque Memoria digna videbantur, 
 perscribere : eo magis, quod milii a Spe, Metu, Partibus Reipub- 
 licae, Animus liber erat. SALLUST. 
 
 THIRD EDITION, 
 REVISED AND CORRECTED. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAV1ES, TN THE STRAND. 
 
 1818.
 
 John M'Creery, Printer, 
 Black Horse Court, London.
 
 5*06 
 
 V. I 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HAVING been sent to the King's Bench 
 Prison, in May, 1816, for a most unin- 
 tentional Act of Inadvertence committed 
 in the first Edition of these Memoirs, 
 I immediately stopped the Sale, which 
 has been suspended near two Years. 
 During that Period of Time, I have en- 
 deavoured, by very attentively revising 
 and correcting the present Edition, to 
 avoid a similar Error. While making 
 those Corrections, I have added a vast 
 Variety of new Matter which suggested 
 itself to me, and remodelled the whole 
 Work. 
 
 I have prefixed to this Edition, my 
 " Three Letters in Answer to the Re-
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 viewers." Not from the slightest Con- 
 sideration or Respect for their calum- 
 nious Criticisms; but, as the best Vou- 
 chers that I can offer to Posterity, for 
 my general Impartiality, Accuracy, and 
 Veracity. To Posterity I look for my 
 Reward, perfectly satisfied if I can se- 
 cure their Approbation. 
 
 N. WM. WRAXALL. 
 
 
 Charlton, near Cheltenham, 
 Id May, 1818. 

 
 AN 
 
 ANSWER 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CALUMNIOUS MISREPRESENTATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 " QUARTERLY REVIEW," 
 
 THE 
 
 " BRITISH CRITIC," 
 
 AND THE 
 
 " EDINBURGH REVIEW," 
 
 CONTAINED IN THEIR 
 
 ON 
 
 SIR N. WILLIAM WRAXALL'S 
 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS OWN TIME. 
 
 BY SIR N. W. WRAXALL, BART. 
 
 Ilcmttou; 
 
 1818.
 
 ANSWER, 
 
 &c. 
 
 AFTER the very severe personal Attack 
 made upon the Author of these " Memoirs," 
 and upon the Work itself, by the Writers of 
 the " Quarterly Review;" an Attack in 
 which they have been followed, though with 
 somewhat diminished Asperity, by the " Bri- 
 " tish Critic ;" it might appear like con- 
 scious Acquiescence, if I left it wholly with- 
 out Reply. Yet, as I am intimately per- 
 suaded that no Panegyric can permanently 
 elevate a mean Work, and that no Censures 
 can long depress a Book of Merit, I should 
 perhaps have left those Strictures to their 
 own intrinsic Weight, if the Editors of the 
 " Quarterly Review" had not wantonly made 
 Sir John Macpherson, the Object of their 
 illiberal and pointed Sarcasms. Independant 
 of the high Character, the public Services, 
 b2
 
 the financial Resources, and recognized Dis- 
 interestedness, which Sir John displayed 
 when Governor-General of Bengal; Facts 
 too well established in the Memory of his 
 Countrymen, to stand in need of my Testi- 
 mony ; I should have imagined, that if any 
 Portions of the present Work could have 
 challenged Respect, Sir John's Communica- 
 tions would have been entitled to it. Can 
 they consider the Particulars given relative 
 to the Emperor Leopold the Second ; a 
 Prince who was known to have honoured Sir 
 John Macpherson with his Confidence and 
 Friendship ; as destitute of Interest ? The 
 Title of these Facts to Belief, is irresistible, 
 and they develope the secret Policy, Feel- 
 ings, as well as Character of that Sovereign. 
 From what Information more authentic, can 
 contemporary History be generally drawn? 
 The Anecdote of His present Majesty and 
 William, Duke of Cumberland, that of Hy- 
 der Ally, and many others, derived from the 
 same Source, which are scattered over the 
 two Volumes, speak for themselves. Contu- 
 melious Irony, and insulting Epithets, should 
 be well weighed before they are applied ; and 
 when applied without obvious or apparent 
 Reason, they lead us to suspect some con-
 
 eealed Motives for their Adoption. Can any 
 such have been offered and accepted in the 
 Case before us? The World will judge for 
 themselves. To have censured me with Se- 
 verity, is explicable, perhaps deserved, in all 
 Cases natural, and in the common Order of 
 Thing's. But, it is more difficult to account 
 on ordinary Principles, for the Fact of ho- 
 norable Men exercising the Function of lite- 
 rary Censors, incapable therefore of prosti- 
 tuting or selling their Suffrage ; heaping 
 contemptuous Expressions on a distinguish- 
 ed Individual, merely for having contributed 
 some Passages to the Work under their 
 Examination. When one reflects on these 
 Circumstances, one is almost led to imagine 
 that the Article in Question was made for 
 them, not by them ; and though it is impos- 
 sible to form even a Conjecture of the Quar- 
 ter from whence such acrimonious Comments 
 could originate, yet is one tempted to exclaim 
 with Faulconbridge in " King John," apply- 
 ing the Words to the literary Fathers of the 
 '*' Quarterly Review," 
 
 " Sir Robert might have eat his Part in me, 
 
 Upon Good Friday, and ne'er broke his Fast. 
 
 -r-Sir Robert never holp to make this Leg."
 
 The Charges made against myself, may 
 be reduced to three ; namely, my Want of 
 Ability, and utter Inaptitude for executing 
 the Work that I have undertaken ; my Im- 
 morality, and lastly, my Deviations from 
 Truth, sometimes resulting from gross Igno- 
 rance, sometimes destitute even of that Apo- 
 logy. Heavier Imputations can hardly be 
 affixed on an Author. Let us see how they 
 are sustained. 
 
 The " Quarterly Review," after stating 
 that I have " egregiously mistaken the 
 Amount of my Resources and of my Ability," 
 compares me for Incapacity and Self-import- 
 ance, to " P. P. Clerk of this Parish," whose 
 " Memoirs" furnish so much ludicrous En- 
 tertainment in the Works of Pope: while 
 the " British Critic" characterizes the Book 
 as " mere Gossip, and languid Imbecility." 
 It would not become me to appreciate the 
 Rank which my own Understanding holds 
 in the Scale of Intellect : but, either the Pub- 
 lic does not think so meanly of the " Histo- 
 rical Memoirs," and their Author, or they 
 manifest a most incorrigible Obstinacy and 
 Inattention to the friendly Admonitions re- 
 iterated by their literary Guides, who exert
 
 every Endeavour to prevent their Readers 
 from throwing away " Eighteen Shillings on 
 a new Edition in Octavo, of the Daily Ad- 
 vertizer." Now I can assure these Gentle- 
 men, that the first Edition of this imbecile 
 Work, consisting of one Thousand Copies, 
 was sold in thirty-three Days, between the 
 14th of April, and the 17th of May of the 
 present Year; though the Price was, not 
 eighteen, but, six and twenty Shillings. No 
 Efforts of the Press could bring out a se- 
 cond Edition before the Middle of June : 
 but, of that Edition, very nearly as many 
 have been already sold. How are we to ac- 
 count for this Fact ? " Audacious Charges 
 " against distinguished Persons," " Stories 
 resting on no Basis of Truth or Probability," 
 " flippant and offensive Reports," followed 
 by " pompous Gossip, and inflated Trash;" 
 how could Men be found so weak as to 
 purchase such a Compilation of Absurdity, 
 Plagiarism, and Matter already better given 
 in the Annual Register, or the Court Calen- 
 dar? I leave the Solution of this pecuniary 
 Enigma to the Gentlemen Reviewers, who 
 will doubtless expose the Juggle that has 
 evidently been practised on the Understand-
 
 6 
 
 ings, and on the Pockets of the British 
 Public. 
 
 Nor is it merely my Defect of natural Ca- 
 pacity, but, my utter Un acquaintance with 
 the Sources, from which alone, authentic Ma- 
 terials for composing " Memoirs of my own 
 " Time" could have been drawn, that dis- 
 qualify me, as they assert, for so delicate a 
 Task. " It is very clear," says the Quar- 
 terly Review, " that Sir Nathaniel was not 
 " at all in the Secret of any Party, and the 
 " Face of the political World was to him 
 " like the Town Clock. He saw the Hand 
 " move, and heard the Bell strike ; but, ob- 
 " served nothing of the Springs which im- 
 " pelled, and knew nothing of the Principles 
 " that regulated the Machine." The " Bri- 
 " tish Critic" observes, " In Fact Sir Wm. 
 " Wraxall is not qualified as the Author of 
 " Historical Memoirs of my own Time. He 
 " has not been behind the Curtain, and seen 
 " the Wires of the Puppets worked. To 
 " write Memoirs, so that they may form legi- 
 " timate Materials for History, it is necessary 
 " for Men to be able to say, Quorum Pars 
 " magna fui" On reading these Animad-
 
 Versions, one is almost tempted to doubt 
 whether the Reviewers had perused the 
 Work, which they so severely criticize. It 
 will not be disputed that I lived in daily 
 and intimate Friendship with the late Lord 
 Sackville, then Lord George Germain, who 
 continued to be Secretary of State, down to 
 January, 1782. From Him I surely might 
 have known much of the Secret of the Time; 
 and that I actually did know some Particulars 
 not unimportant, may be seen in the " Me- 
 " moirs" themselves. From the Duke of 
 Dorset, who was appointed Embassador to 
 the Court of Versailles, in December, 1783, 
 and whose Confidence, as well as Corres- 
 pondence I enjoyed during the whole Period 
 of his Embassy, I might have derived similar 
 Information. As I lived almost always in 
 London, and attended the House of Com- 
 mons regularly ; unless I laboured under 
 insurmountable Stupidity, I must have caught 
 some Warmth from the Materials and Per- 
 sons that 1 approached. 
 
 But, J differ on another Point, from the Re- 
 viewers. For, I think, that if I had been " in 
 * the Secret of any Party ;" if I had " been 
 " behind the Curtain, and seen the Wires of
 
 8 
 
 " the Puppets worked ;" if I had been offi- 
 cially entrusted with Facts or Documents of 
 State, J could not have divulged them dur- 
 ing the Life of George the Third. My very 
 Ability to compose Memoirs of my own 
 Time, would have constituted my Disquali- 
 fication. Lord Clarendon, Burnet, Dod ing- 
 ton, Horace Walpole, were all dead, before 
 their Memoirs or Reminiscences were given 
 to the World. I am, in my own Person, an 
 Instance and a Proof of the Position that I 
 here maintain. During the Years 1774 and 
 1775, I had the Honour to be employed 
 most confidentially by the late Queen of 
 Denmark, Caroline Matilda, who then resid- 
 ed in the Hanoverian Dominions,'at the Castle 
 of Zell. By that Princess I was repeatedly 
 sent over to His present Majesty, charged 
 with Dispatches of a very interesting Nature, 
 with whose Contents I was intimately ac- 
 quainted. So strong a Sense did the King 
 entertain of my Services rendered to his Sis- 
 ter, that he was graciously pleased, through 
 the Medium of Lord North himself, then 
 First Minister, to send me a Present of a 
 Thousand Guineas, accompanied with As- 
 surances of Employment. Lord North de- 
 livered the Message to me at Bushy Park,
 
 to which Place he honoured me with an In- 
 vitation for the express Purpose. That No- 
 bleman knew from His Majesty's own Lips, 
 the Nature of the Negotiation with which i 
 had been entrusted by the Queen Matilda. 
 Every Fact here enumerated, can be au- 
 thenticated by Persons who are still living, 
 some of whom are of very high Rank. But, 
 though above forty Years have elapsed since 
 the Decease of that amiable and unfortunate 
 Princess, I have never alluded in any of my 
 Publications, to the Negotiation in which I 
 was consulted and employed by Her Ma- 
 jesty. Yet, if disclosed, it would excite 
 great Interest ; for, it resembled in many 
 Particulars, a Story of Romance ; and ac- 
 cording to the Principle laid down by the 
 Reviewers, it would " form legitimate Ma- 
 " terials for History." But, those worthy 
 Gentlemen and I see Objects through oppo- 
 site Ends of the Telescope. 
 
 I come next to the Charge of Immorality 
 and Indecency, respecting which the " Bri- 
 " tish Critic," after severely arraigning the 
 Work on this Ground, says, " To the other 
 " Sex, and the Youth of our own, it is a 
 " sealed Book, on account of its gross Inde-
 
 10 
 
 " cencies." It is to be regretted that the Re- 
 viewers should not have glanced at the Pas- 
 sages to which Allusion is thus made. Such 
 general and sweeping Censures, without spe- 
 cifying any particular Stories or Parts, must 
 be considered as very unfair. On what 
 Foundation are they preferred ? Is it on the 
 Anecdote related of Marshal Saxe and Ma- 
 dem lle de Chantilly ? But, it will not be 
 contended that in relating the Marshal's 
 Conduct, I have spared the strongest Epi- 
 thets of Abhorrence and Indignation, which 
 are so justly excited, by his depraved Treat- 
 ment of an unprotected Female. If it is 
 meant to insinuate, that I convey improper 
 Information to the other Sex, then, the Works 
 of Shakspeare, Otway, and Congreve, must 
 be interdicted; and still more, the Produc- 
 tions of Pope, of Swift, and of Prior. Nay, 
 every Newspaper must be carefully removed : 
 for, they disclose far more, than can be 
 found in my two Volumes. But, there re- 
 mains still a minor Imputation, which the 
 " Quarterly Review" qualifies with the Terms 
 " of filthy and indecent Garbage." Probably 
 They have in View, the Series of Facts men- 
 tioned after the Account given of Ferdinand 
 the Fourth, King of Naples, which are il-
 
 lustrative of Neapolitan and of French Man- 
 ners. But, are these fastidious Critics aware, 
 or are they ignorant, that in De Thou, Sully, 
 Davila, and D'Aubigne, similar " Garbage" 
 is found? Are not Smollett, Gibbon, and 
 Hawkesworth, full of such Details? Sir John 
 Dalrymple, by express Permission, nay, 
 under the Sanction of His present Majesty, 
 has published Letters far more exceptionable 
 in Point of Delicacy, (as for Instance, the 
 memorable Letter of Charles the Second, to 
 his Sister, Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, 
 dated " Whithall, 27th Feb y , 1609," rela- 
 tive to which, Dalrymple himself says, that 
 " it could hardly have been expected from a 
 " royal Hand,") than any Thing to be met 
 with in my " Memoirs." 
 
 It remains to meet and to repel the Attack 
 made on my Veracity: which Imputation, 
 the " Quarterly Review" endeavours to sus- 
 tain by selecting out of the two Volumes, 
 about fourteen prominent Instances of Error, 
 or as he denominates them, Falsity. That 
 my Work is not exempt from many Mistakes, 
 I readily admit : but, the Reviewers, while 
 censuring me, should have been careful not 
 to fall into the very Predicament which they
 
 12 >t / 
 
 reprobate. Great Triumph is assumed, be- 
 cause I have named the Duke of Dorset, as 
 having informed me of the Circumstance 
 attending Lord Camden's being invested with 
 the Order of the Garter. No doubt I erred 
 in thinking that I received the Account from 
 the Duke. But, even the Reviewers dare not 
 assert that the Anecdote itself is false. They 
 " never read," they say, " a more impertinent 
 " Story." Impertinent Stories may however 
 be true Stories. In fact, though the Duke of 
 Dorset could not have related it to me, there 
 are ten Persons now living, who know, and 
 are ready to depose to its Truth. How, in- 
 deed, could 1 invent it ? I did not even know 
 that Lord Camden's Christian Names were 
 John Jeffereys, except in Consequence of 
 the King's Remark. Here then, though 
 I was partially mistaken, 1 was radically 
 accurate. 
 
 In another Assertion, namely that I met 
 Mr. Pitt in Company with Mr. Rose, on his 
 way to Paris, at Antwerp, in August, 1783, 
 I have likewise erred. On appealing, as I 
 did, to Mr. Rose himself, a few Weeks ago, 
 for the Truth of the Fact, he wrote me, " I 
 " was at Antwerp, in, or about the Month
 
 13 
 
 "of August, 1783, with Lord Thurlow, on 
 " a Tour through a Part of the Continent. 
 " Mr. Pitt was not with me ; but I met him, 
 " I think, in October, at Paris, where he 
 " went after a short Stay at Rheims." It 
 appears therefore that in this Matter likewise 
 I fell into a partial Mistake. In all the other 
 Instances brought to prove my Deviation 
 from Fact, the Reviewers are either mistaken, 
 or ignorant, or they substitute their own 
 Narration as more worthy of Credit than 
 mine, though without adducing any Proof. 
 But, what shall we say to Men, who are so 
 utterly unacquainted with the very Matters 
 on which they presume to decide and to ac- 
 cuse, as to assert that " Robinson's counter* 
 " signing, as Secretary of the Treasury, on the 
 " Refusal of Lord Weymouth, the Secretary 
 " of State, an Order for the Attack on Pon- 
 " dicherry, in 1778, is a perfect Impossibi- 
 "lity?" 
 
 Mr. Robinson, writing to Sir John Mac- 
 pherson, from ** Wyke House, Isleworth, 
 " 23d May, 1800," in a Letter, which has 
 been long since printed, expressly says, " My 
 " Correspondence with the Nabob (of Arcot,) 
 " shall be produced, if desired, which it fell
 
 14 
 
 " to my lot (though not within my Province,) 
 " to carry on : as also, in Concert with the 
 " Chairman and Deputy Chairman, as a 
 " Special Committee, to write out Orders to 
 " the Governor and Council of Madras, for 
 " the Capture of Pondicherry, which was 
 " effected so expeditiously, when His Ma- 
 " jesty's Secretary of State would not sign 
 " such Orders." L leave this Letter to be 
 denied, or contradicted, by the Reviewers.* 
 
 With similar Boldness, but, with as ill Suc- 
 cess, they pronounce on Mr. Eraser's pre- 
 senting to King George the Second, when 
 Under Secretary of State, a Paper for His 
 Majesty's Signature : " a Duty," say they, 
 " which never by any Chance, could have 
 " devolved on Mr. Fraser, or any other Per- 
 " son in his Situation." What ! Not in Case 
 of the Secretary of State's Illness, or neces- 
 sary Absence, or Dismission, or under pres- 
 sing Circumstances, in Order to expedite 
 the Dispatch of public Business? Do these 
 Gentlemen Reviewers know or recollect, 
 that on the 18th of December, 1783, this 
 
 * The printed Letter has been left with Messrs. Cadelt 
 and Davies, for general Inspection, ever since August, 
 1815. It still remains in their Possession.
 
 15 
 
 ame Mr. Eraser, and Mr. Nepean, (now Sir 
 Evan,) as Under Secretaries of State, by 
 Command of His present Majesty, brought 
 and delivered up into the King's Hand, not 
 merely Papers, but, the Seals of Lord 
 North's and Mr. Fox's Departments, on 
 their Dismission from Office? It is evident 
 that the Editors of the " Quarterly Review," 
 have either got out of their Depth, or have 
 hookwinked their own Judgment, and mo- 
 dulated their own Opinions, in Submission 
 to others. 
 
 After garbling, not citing, the Account 
 that I have given of the late Lord Liver- 
 pool ; and omitting, for Reasons which will 
 be obvious to every Reader, some of the 
 most discriminating Circumstances of that 
 Nobleman's ordinary Demeanour described 
 by me ; the " Quarterly Review" says, " In 
 " this Character of Lord Liverpool, though 
 " it may be in the main, tolerably correct, 
 " there are some Errors, which prove that 
 " Sir Nathaniel had no personal Acquaint- 
 " ance with the Person whose Portrait he 
 " draws. For Instance, nothing can be less 
 " accurate than the Statement, that His Lord- 
 " ship's Education was narrow, and that he 
 VOL. i. c
 
 " was more read in Men, than in Books." I 
 not only was known to Mr. Jenkinson with 
 great Familiarity, from 1781 down to 1786, 
 when he went up to the House of Peers; 
 but I was in constant Habits of meeting and 
 conversing with him. I have dined at his 
 Country Seat, Addiscombe Place, near 
 Croydon, in 1784; as, probably, the Dowa- 
 ger Countess of Liverpool, and the present 
 Duchess of Dorset, who were both there, 
 may remember. Even down to a much later 
 Period of his Life, he continued to honour 
 me with his Regard ; and as late as 1797, 
 he presented me, himself, in the Queen's 
 Drawing Room at St. James's, to the Princess 
 of Orange. So much for my " personal Ac- 
 " quaintance" with the Earl of Liverpool. 
 As to his " University Education," and his 
 having " continued all his Life, what is call- 
 " ed a bookish Man," which the Reviewers 
 assert; I can only repeat, that though he 
 might be " a classic Scholar," and might 
 " have possessed a great Variety of reading," 
 yet his whole Life, his Speeches in Parlia- 
 ment, and his Elevation, sufficiently prove, 
 that " he had read Men more than Books." 
 
 If I do not descend to answer and refute
 
 the other Instances adduced of pretended 
 Error or Falsehood, it is because the Ex- 
 amples cited, are either in themselves of little 
 Moment, or must rest on the Degree of Cre- 
 dibility due to the Reviewers, as opposed to 
 my own Testimony. Let the Public decide 
 between us. It is not of very material Con- 
 sequence, whether " the Royal George" 
 went down in the midst of Portsmouth Har- 
 bour, or at Spithead. Nor is it very impor- 
 tant, whether Lord Bute sold his House in 
 Berkeley Square to Lord Shelburne, before 
 he inhabited it, or afterwards. The " Royal 
 " George" perished in an Instant, by the 
 Effect of fatal Negligence ; and the Earl of 
 Bute constructed the magnificent Mansion 
 which was purchased by Lord Shelburne. 
 These constitute the leading Facts in both 
 Cases. There are other Passages, where the 
 Reviewers have, either wilfully or uninten- 
 tionally, misstated and misinterpreted my 
 Meaning. I have never asserted, as they 
 affect to suppose and to assume, that " the 
 " Cabinet of 1801, considered Peace with 
 " France as impolitic, unsafe, and unwise :" 
 but, that His Majesty was known so to re- 
 gard it ; and therefore that " Lord Hawks- 
 " bury affixed his Signature to the Articles,
 
 " not only without the King's Consent of 
 " Approbation, but, without his Knowledge." 
 The Difference between the two Statements 
 is obvious. 
 
 ;-. lidW-jV/vil -iii'l'OJ 't; ; i> ji > 
 The " Quarterly Review" arraigns se- 
 verely the Details into which I have entered, 
 when discussing the Characters or public 
 Merits of eminent Men. " He seems to 
 " consider it necessary," say they, " to write 
 " a professed Review of the Manners, Mo- 
 " rals, Talents, and Res gestce of each. In 
 " this Way, Lord IN T orth and Lord Sackville 
 " are spread over forty Pages ; and Pitt and 
 " Fox have, each, near thirty to their re- 
 " spective Shares." On reading this Charge, 
 one is tempted almost to doubt whether it 
 can be serious. Do not Memoirs necessarily 
 include Biography in their Range? What 
 constitutes the peculiar Charm of Plutarch, 
 except this very Circumstance, that he en- 
 ters minutely into the domestic and private 
 Life, as well as into the official Acts, of his 
 Heroes? Even Suetonius, a Writer of very 
 inferior Merit in many Points of View, yet 
 awakens Attention by the Anecdotes that 
 he recounts of the Csars, because he con- 
 ducts us into their Apartments, and renders
 
 MS familiar with them. De Thou and D'Au- 
 bigne descend to similar Details. Even 
 {jrammont, St. Simon, and Horace Walpole, 
 interest us on the same Principle. If Fox 
 and Pitt, if Lord North and Lord Sackville, 
 if Burke and Dunning, do not challenge 
 minute Investigation, who can deserve it? 
 Lord Clarendon and Burnet are liable to the 
 same Accusation, which constitutes indeed 
 their greatest Claim to be read by Posterity. 
 It will not, I hope, be said that I am com- 
 paring myself to these distinguished Writers, 
 because, like Trinculo in " the Tempest," I 
 attempt to " creep under their Gabardine," 
 in Order to avoid the Storm. J only en- 
 deavor to justify my Attempt, by setting up 
 their Precedent, 
 
 The " British Critic" is indeed at Vari- 
 ance on this Point, with the " Quarterly 
 " Review;" for, the former of these Publica- 
 tions, when speaking of " the Characters of 
 " the principal political Leaders of the Day," 
 adds, " these we esteem by far the best 
 " Part of his Work." They retract, it is 
 true, their Approbation in the next Sentence, 
 by subjoining that the Characters " are 
 " written in a loose, prolix, wordy Style,"
 
 20 
 
 But, can we annex any Value to the Praise, 
 or any Importance to the Blame of Men, 
 who arrogating to decide on literary Merit, 
 are not even exempt from Errors of Ortho- 
 graphy? Of Men who write Vallois, for 
 Valois; Luzinska for Leczinska, Malgrida 
 for Malagrida, Hay due for Heyduc, Vintri- 
 mille for Vintimille; and many others? 1 
 forbear to make any Comment on the Man- 
 ner in which both these Reviews have men- 
 tioned the Prosecution commenced against 
 me by Count Woronzow, for having inad- 
 vertently mentioned his Name in a Way 
 hurtful to his Feelings ; a Circumstance 
 which could not have arisen from any Inten- 
 tion to injure or offend, which I regret, and 
 for which, as soon as I was apprized of it, 
 I made him every becoming Apology. If 
 Decency and Liberality of Mind did not 
 restrain the Pens of these Critics, or mode- 
 rate their virtuous Indignation, other Consi- 
 derations might and ought to have imposed 
 Limits on them. Are they aware, that by 
 attempting through the Medium of the Press, 
 to influence the public Mind, and to antici- 
 pate the supposed Judgment of a Court of 
 criminal Law, on a Matter pending, and 
 not yet come to hearing ; they are guilty of
 
 21 
 
 a far more heinous Offence, than the one 
 which it is falsely affected to attribute to me? 
 For, the Purity and Majesty of English 
 Jurisprudence, discountenances, reprobates, 
 and punishes, every Appeal to the Passions 
 of the Multitude, as subversive of the first 
 Principles of Equity and Justice. 
 
 Having now so far finished my Defence at 
 the Bar of literary Criticism, I will candidly 
 confess the inherent, indelible, and inexpi- 
 able Faults, which pervade every Page of 
 the " Historical Memoirs," and of which I 
 own myself culpable: nay, from which I 
 principally claim for the Work, any Title to 
 be read either by the present, or by the fu- 
 ture Age. They are, 
 
 Its Freedom, Impartiality, and Truth. 
 
 I am well aware that these Qualities never 
 yet did recommend, and never will recom- 
 mend, to the Favor of Princes, Ministers, or 
 of the Great. They deprecate all Disclo- 
 sures; hardly approving even Panegyric, un- 
 less restrained within cautious, humble, and 
 guarded Limits. Party, and Party only, 
 can in this Country, support the Man who
 
 22 
 
 ventures to spurn these prudent Boundaries. 
 But I have not secured that Protection. 
 Though nine Years have scarcely elapsed 
 since Pitt and Fox, both, paid the Debt to 
 Nature; though the first Offices of the State, 
 and the Benches in either House of Parlia- 
 ment, are still filled with their respective 
 Enemies, Relatives, and Adherents ; I have, 
 (most imprudently I own,) spoken of them, 
 as I would do of the Ministers of Queen 
 Anne; of Lord Godolphin, and Lord Bo- 
 lingbroke. So have I done of George the 
 Third, as if I were writing of William the 
 Third, or of Elizabeth. All the affectionate 
 Veneration necessarily inspired by his Vir- 
 tues, all the Admiration excited by the Rec- 
 titude of his Intentions, has not induced me 
 to attempt to conceal or to deny, that almost 
 from the Period of his Accession, down to 
 the Termination of the American War, His 
 present Majesty did not enjoy Popularity. 
 He might have merited it, but he did not 
 possess it. Where then, 1 would ask, can 
 this Work find Protectors, except in those 
 who respect Truth as the only Quality that 
 can render History valuable ? I well know 
 that I have neither conciliated the Followers 
 of Pitt, of Fox, or of Lord North. Of
 
 23 
 
 Course, in the Spirit of Party, I can hope 
 for no Asylum. I look beyond the present 
 Generation for my Reward, namely, public 
 Approval. That Hope, whether fallacious 
 or not, has hitherto sustained me under lite- 
 rary and legal Attacks. It will animate me 
 in the future Progress of these Memoirs ; 
 which, whatever may be their Errors or De- 
 fects, and whatever Treatment their Author 
 may experience from the Age in which he 
 lives, will, he confidently trusts, be favorably 
 received by Posterity. 
 
 N. WILL". WRAXALL. 
 
 Charlton, near Cheltenham, 
 August, 1815.
 
 24 
 
 I HAD scarcely finished my Answer 
 to the " Quarterly Review" and " British 
 Critic," when I find myself attacked by a 
 still more formidable, because a more volu- 
 minous, and if possible, a more acrimonious 
 Antagonist, in the Pages of the " Edinburgh 
 " Review." Though, as coming after the 
 two former, he can only glean the Field 
 which they have reaped, and has only re- 
 peated the same Charges or Accusations 
 which they had already preferred ; yet hav- 
 ing thought it necessary to bestow on my 
 Work, in Order, as he says, " to expose its 
 " Worthlessness," near two and forty Pages 
 of his loyal and high principled Review, he 
 claims from me a separate and appropriate 
 Reply. He begins by animadverting on 
 my Account of Catherine the Second. His 
 Words are, speaking of the second Edition, 
 " The Deaths of the Emperor Peter, of 
 " Prince Ivan, of the supposed Princess Tar- 
 " rakanoff, of the Grand Duchess the first 
 " Wife of Paul, and indeed, that of the Prin- 
 " cess of Wirtemberg, are still laid to- the 
 " Charge of the Empress. Such a Series of
 
 25 
 
 " Murders, including that of a Husband, of 
 " a Boy, and of three young Women, one 
 " of whom was a Daughter in Law, has 
 " not been charged on any Individual, at 
 " least in the modern History of Europe." 
 
 Now, in Order to expose the Injustice 
 and Falsity of the two first of these Accusa-- 
 tions, namely, that of Peter the Third and of 
 Ivan, (which latter Prince, though he was 
 born in 1740, and killed by his Guards in 
 1764, the " Edinburgh Review" no doubt 
 from Ignorance, denominates a Soy,) I have 
 only to cite my own Account. ]\o Man 
 disputes that Catherine ascended or assumed 
 the Russian Throne, by the Deposition of 
 her Husband, which was followed, a few 
 Days afterwards, by his Death. 1 have 
 said, when mentioning him and Ivan, " Sir 
 " Thomas Wroughton always spoke to me 
 " of Catherine's Participation or Acquies- 
 " cence in the Death of Peter the Third, 
 " as involuntary, reluctant, and the Result of 
 " an insurmountable Necessity. He even con- 
 " sidered her Knowledge of the Destruction 
 " of the unfortunate Emperor Ivan, who was 
 " stabbed by his own Guards at Schlussel- 
 *' bourg in 1764, with a View to prevent his
 
 26 
 
 " being liberated by Mirovitsch, as exceed- 
 " ingly problematical" This is almost the 
 only Mention that I have made either of one, 
 or of the other of those Princes, throughout 
 the whole Work ; except that I elsewhere 
 say, " Peter the Third disappeared in 1762, 
 " as the unfortunate Emperor Ivan did in 
 " 1764." What Reply can these worthy 
 Scotch Reviewers set up, after such an 
 Exposal of their calumnious Misrepresenta- 
 tion? Their Zeal to rescue Catherine's Me- 
 mory from Imputation, even at the Expence 
 of Truth, would indeed be ludicrous, if it 
 did not excite Indignation. One would 
 almost imagine that it was " the great Na- 
 " poleon," or the virtuous Carnot, in whose 
 Defence they had drawn their Pen. While 
 I am speaking on this Subject, I will further 
 add, that all the Information which I ever 
 received at Petersburgh in 1774, when Ivan 
 had been dead only ten Years, and Peter the 
 Third, scarcely twelve ; went to confirm Sir 
 Thomas Wroughton's Opinion, of Catherine's 
 Repugnance to sanction or permit any Vio- 
 lence being used towards the deposed Em- 
 peror, her Husband. She long refused, even 
 with Tears, to authorize Measures of Rigour, 
 and he fell a Victim to revolutionary military
 
 27 
 
 Necessity, sustained by the Fears of the Con- 
 spirators who had placed Catherine on the 
 Throne. She was only a passive Agent in the 
 Business. Nor is it in any Manner proved 
 that she was acquainted with Mirovitsch's At- 
 tempt to liberate Ivan. The Empress received 
 the Intelligence of that tragical Event, while 
 in public Company at Riga; and Opinions 
 were greatly divided on the Subject, at the 
 Time. But, whether she was guilty or inno- 
 cent, I have no where given even an Opinion, 
 throughout this whole Work. Yet, these 
 constitute two out of the " Series of Murders," 
 which " the Edinburgh Review" says, I have 
 " laid to the Charge of the Empress." 
 
 Relative to the Death of the supposed 
 Princess Tarrakanoff, it is not necessary for 
 me to make any Defence, having only alluded 
 briefly to Castera's Account of that Event, 
 published in 1797 ; and having given at some 
 Length, Sir John Dick's Explanation of his 
 Share in the Transaction ; leaving the Judg- 
 ment to be formed respecting it, to the 
 Reader. Far from aggravating Catherine's 
 Culpability in the Part which She acted to- 
 wards the Female in Question, I have rather
 
 28 
 
 defended her Conduct. My Words are, " It 
 " is even very difficult altogether to condemn 
 " the Empress Catherine, for endeavouring 
 " to get Possession of her Person." And 
 I have stated my Reason for so thinking, 
 namely, that Impostors were nearly as dan- 
 gerous to a Czarina placed on the Throne of 
 Muscovy by a Revolution, as a rightful Pre- 
 tender to the Crown. " These Considera- 
 " tions," I have added, " must, at least in a 
 " political Point of View, justify Catherine 
 " for taking Measures to prevent the Lady 
 " in Question, from being made an Instru- 
 " ment in the Hands of vindictive or am- 
 " bitious Individuals, to accomplish their 
 " Projects of Vengeance against herself." 
 / have neither asserted nor denied, that the 
 pretended Princess Tarrakanoff was drowned 
 by the Waters of the Neva entering her Pri- 
 son. Castera says that she did so perish. 
 Sir John Dick admits that she died in Pri- 
 son : but he asserts, her End was produced 
 by Chagrin. Let the Reader judge between 
 the two Accounts. And now I would calmly 
 ask the " Edinburgh Reviewers," how they 
 can so disgrace their own Characters and 
 Profession, as to lend themselves to such
 
 29 
 
 Attacks as these ? Their own Feelings, and 
 the public Condemnation, will amply avenge 
 me, by exposing them to general Censure. 
 
 I come to the fourth Charge against me, 
 that of the Death of the Grand Duchess, 
 first Wife of Paul : a Charge drawn up with 
 elaborate Malevolence, and supported with 
 no ordinary Degree of historical and critical 
 Ability. " No Murder recorded in civilized 
 " History," say the Edinburgh Reviewers, 
 " approaches this. Paul is involved in it, as 
 " much as his Mother : for it varies the Atro- 
 " city very slightly, whether he acted from 
 " Subserviency to the Empress, from Adop- 
 " tion of her flagitious Policy, or from Re- 
 " sentment at the supposed Gallantries of 
 " his Wife." They add, " To publish such 
 " Stories lightly, is no small Offence." Who, 
 on perusing these Passages, would not be 
 led to imagine, that I had now for the first 
 Time revealed to the World, this Story ; or 
 at least first published it through the Me- 
 dium of the Press ? But, unfortunately for 
 the Reviewers, as they themselves are obliged 
 to admit, the whole Narration has been given 
 in Print, eighteen Years ago, in French ; a 
 Language much more universally read thao
 
 30 
 
 English ; printed at Paris, in 1 797, immedi- 
 ately after the Empress Catherine's Decease, 
 and circulated all over Europe. Paul had 
 then newly ascended the Russian Throne, 
 and scarcely twenty-one Years had elapsed 
 since his first Wife's Death. Neither he, 
 nor his Ministers, could be ignorant of the 
 Existence of the Work in Question; and the 
 Lapse of Time was not sufficiently great, to 
 have carried off all the Individuals who 
 might have elucidated the Nature of the 
 Grand Duchess's End. Even Levesque, who 
 mentions the Event, though more doubt- 
 fully, and in a Manner that leaves his own 
 Opinion of it uncertain, published his Work 
 in 1800. Yet Paul never attempted to an- 
 swer these calumnious Misrepresentations, 
 though he reigned down to 1801. It has 
 been truly said that " an injudicious Friend 
 " is the worst of Enemies." The Edinburgh 
 Reviewers stand in this Predicament. For, 
 they must either be compelled to admit that 
 Paul, knowing himself and the Empress his 
 Mother to be innocent, yet calmly acqui- 
 esced in the Accusation; not participating 
 the Anxiety manifested by his present Ad- 
 Tocates, and utterly regardless of his Repu- 
 tation ; or they must be reduced to suppose
 
 31 
 
 that he had Reasons for not stirring the 
 Business of his first Consort's Death. I 
 leave them to choose between the two Alter- 
 natives. They cannot pretend to believe that 
 Paul, even though he had been actually im- 
 plicated in the Grand Duchess's End, could 
 have wanted venal and prostitute Pens to 
 have undertaken his Defence. The historic, 
 as well as the poetic Muse, frequently in- 
 deed succeeds best in Fiction. The Appli- 
 cation of these Remarks will be easily made 
 by the Edinburgh Reviewers. 
 
 Let us now advert to my own Account of 
 the Event under Discussion. It is given on 
 the Testimony of two Princes of Hesse Phi- 
 lipstahl who were at Vienna in 1778, and 
 seemed to derive some Probability or Confir- 
 mation, from the Circumstance of the Person 
 named as the Grand Duchess's Lover, being 
 then resident in the Austrian Capital. But 
 I have contented myself with relating the 
 Story, without asserting that I believed the 
 fenipress or Paul to have committed the Act 
 attributed to them. It is true that 1 have 
 added, " When we contemplate the History 
 " of the imperial Family of Russia, from the 
 " Reign of Peter the First inclusive, down to 
 VOL. i. d
 
 32 
 
 " the present Time, we shall find nothing in 
 " the Story above related, either improbable 
 " in itself, or inconsistent with the Measures 
 " to which the Sovereigns of that Empire 
 " have continually had Recourse, under simi- 
 " lar Circumstances, in various Instances." 
 Do not the Reviewers know that the Wife 
 of the Czarowitz Alexis, only Son of Peter 
 the Great, perished or disappeared in 1715, 
 precisely like Wilhelmina, Princess of Hesse 
 Darmstadt, in Childbed; an Event which 
 was produced by the ferocious Treatment 
 of her Husband ? She was in the Flower 
 of Youth, beautiful, virtuous, and at least 
 as much an Object of Compassion, as the 
 first Wife of Paul. Did not Alexis himself 
 disappear in 1719, under Circumstances 
 which have no Parallel in modern History, 
 except Philip the Second's Execution of 
 Don Carlos? Contemplate the arbitrary 
 Acts of barbarous Power, exercised under 
 Elizabeth, Catherine's Predecessor; when 
 Women of Quality, stript, were exposed to 
 the Lash of the Executioner, and expired 
 under the Punishment of the Knout, on a pub- 
 lic Scaffold. They excite Horror, and may 
 justify us in supposing that Events, which 
 never could be credited, if the Scene lay
 
 33 
 
 at Stockholm, at Berlin, or at Madrid, might 
 possibly have been true at Petersburg!}. If, 
 nevertheless; J were called on to state my own 
 Opinion respecting the Death of the Grand 
 Duchess in Question, I owe it to my Love 
 of Truth to say, that I believe it resulted 
 from natural Causes, and was not accelerated 
 by any Violence. But, as no Measures were 
 ever adopted either by Catherine or by Paul, 
 to disprove the Reports circulated under the 
 former, and printed under the latter Sove- 
 reign, accusing them of having accelerated 
 her End, the Subject must remain Matter of 
 historical Doubt and Discussion. 
 
 It is a Duty incumbent on the " Edin- 
 " burgh Reviewers," not merely as calling 
 themselves impartial and honorable literary 
 Censors, but, from Regard to their moral 
 Character as Men; to explain on what 
 Ground they have thought proper to accuse 
 me of laying to Catherine's Charge, the last 
 of this "Series of Murders." I mean, that 
 of the Princess of Wirtemberg. They must 
 either have done it from a systematic Sacri- 
 fice of Truth, to other Motives best known 
 to themselves ; or they never can have read 
 the Remarks made by me on the Event in
 
 34 
 
 Question: for, my Opinion and Observa- 
 tions are altogether favorable to the Empress, 
 and tend to acquit her of any Participation 
 in that Princess's Death, even on the Supposi- 
 tion that it was not natural : a Supposition 
 which I by no Means sanction. That the il- 
 lustrious and unfortunate Lady was confined 
 in the Interior of Muscovy, for some asserted 
 Errors of Conduct ; that she there expired 
 at the End of about eighteen Months ; that 
 her Body was refused to be delivered up to 
 her Parents ; that no Proc&s verbal, or au- 
 thenticated Account of her Disorder and 
 Decease, was ever published by the Court 
 of Petersburgh, or of Stutgard; that inju- 
 rious Reports respecting her End were cir- 
 culated throughout Europe, and obtained 
 
 considerable Belief even in this Country; 
 
 on all these Points, there is no Difference of 
 Opinion. They are universally admitted. 
 Now, what have I said? After stating the 
 Suspicions entertained of Poison, or other 
 Means having been resorted to, I add, " It 
 " is natural to ask, Why did Catherine cause 
 " the Princess to be imprisoned or poisoned? 
 " Her Gallantries, however culpable or no- 
 4 torious they might be, yet constituted no 
 " C|ime against the Empress of Russia;
 
 " who exhibited in her own Conduct, an 
 " Example of Emancipation from all Re- 
 " straint and Decorum on the Article of 
 
 * Female Irregularities of Deportment." 
 
 " In the Case of the two Emperors, Peter the 
 ** third and Ivan ; as well as in the Instances 
 " of the pretended Princess Tarrakanoff, and 
 " of the first Grand Duchess of Russia ; the 
 * Motives for her Commission of a Crime, 
 " by depriving them of Life, are obvious. 
 " But, none such appear in the Instance before 
 
 " us" What Answer can the Reviewers 
 
 make to this Charge of wilful Misrepresenta- 
 tion and false Accusation, which 1 bring 
 against them? 
 
 Having thus vindicated myself, as I trust, 
 satisfactorily, from the five Imputations of 
 the Edinburgh Reviewers, respecting the 
 Empress of Russia, and retorted on them- 
 selves the calumnious Accusations with 
 which they have loaded me ; I will only add 
 that I perfectly acquiesce in the Conclusion 
 to which they come at last. They say, 
 " The Probability seems to be, that this 
 " Princess, at the Desire of her Husband, 
 " for real or supposed Indiscretions, was re- 
 " legated to a Provincial Prison, in a Coun*
 
 36 
 
 " try where the secret Death of an illustrious 
 " Prisoner, though really natural, might be 
 " plausibly imputed to Assassination." That 
 the present King of Wirtemberg proved to 
 George the Third, by Documents and Pa- 
 pers the most authentic, that he had not 
 any Knowledge of, or Participation in, his 
 first Wife's Death, is incontestable. His Ma- 
 jesty, as I have stated, " after a full inspec- 
 " tion of them, became perfectly convinced 
 " of his having had no Part in that dark and 
 " melancholy Transaction." This Fact I 
 have given on the Authority of a Gentleman 
 who well knew, and had seen, those Proofs. 
 He is the same Individual, whom the Edin- 
 burgh Reviewers contemptuously call my 
 " Informer," and of whose interesting Recital 
 they speak, as " a long and very dull Story." 
 These Reviewers are inconsciously treading 
 on very delicate Ground, and should be re- 
 minded of Hamlet's Advice to the Players, 
 "not to say more than is set down for 
 " them." " His Majesty's Reluctance and 
 " Hesitation" to conclude the Union of the 
 Prince of Wirtemberg with his eldest Daugh- 
 ter, to which 1 allude ; probably arose only 
 from parental Attachment. And, without 
 having Recourse to any Supposition of Vio-
 
 37 
 
 lence, we may easily conceive that the De 
 cease of the first Princess might have been 
 caused by her own Situation, shut up in a 
 Muscovite Castle, deprived of her German 
 Attendants, male and female, a Prey to 
 Solitude and Chagrin. Such Circumstances 
 are usually of themselves sufficient to abbre- 
 viate the Term of human Life. 
 
 I shall now endeavor with Calmness, for, 
 Truth is a powerful Buckler; to repel some 
 of the minor Calumnies or Distortions of 
 Fact, in which the Reviewers indulge them- 
 selves. Joseph, King of Portugal, they re- 
 present me to have described, " as a drunken 
 " old Moor." My Words are these. " In 
 " his Cheeks he had a high scorbutic Hu- 
 " mor, attributed commonly to Excesses of 
 " Wine; though it might partly arise from 
 " violent Exercise constantly taken under a 
 " burning Sun. His Face, indeed, was 
 " nearly as dusky as that of a Moor." With 
 similar Regard to Veracity, these Gentlemen 
 say, " Sir Nathaniel's Hero, among the So- 
 "-vereigns of the eighteenth Century, is 
 " Louis the Fifteenth :" an Assertion con- 
 tradicted by the Memoirs under our Review. 
 I have, indeed, spoken of a Portion of
 
 38 
 
 Louis's Reign, with the warmest Approba- 
 tion. So I should have done, when writing 
 of the " Quinquennium Neronis" the first 
 five Years of Nero, if I had composed the 
 History of that execrable Monster's Life. 
 But, I have depictured Louis the Fifteenth 
 during the concluding Years of his Govern- 
 ment, as a Man sunk in every degrading 
 Gratification or Pursuit. After stating that 
 " Louis, during his last Years, excites Dis- 
 " gust, unqualified by any Sentiment of Pity, 
 " or of Respect;" I add, " His Death, which 
 " took Place under these Circumstances, 
 " was hailed by the French, as the -/Era of 
 " their Liberation from a Yoke equally dis- 
 " graceful and severe." Reviewers, who thus 
 unblushingly trample on Truth, must set 
 little Value on Character, or must hold the 
 Understandings of Mankind in great Con- 
 tempt. 1 have elsewhere said, when men- 
 tioning Louis the Fifteenth, " Unquestion- 
 " ably, the four last Years of his Reign, 
 " were passed in a Manner worthy of Sarda- 
 " napalus; oblivious of his public Duties, 
 " insensible to national Glory, and lost to 
 " every Sentiment of private Virtue, or even 
 " of Decorum." And this is the King whom 
 I am represented as having made my " Hero."
 
 39 
 
 , Nor have they less misrepresented my 
 Assertion, that " Louis covered himself and 
 " his Country with Military Glory." The 
 Paragraph in Question is as follows. " If 
 "Louis the Fifteenth, by the Peace of 1736, 
 " acquired Lorrain for France ; he covered 
 " himself and his Country with Military 
 " Glory during the War that commenced in 
 " 1741, on the Death of the Emperor Charles 
 " the Sixth." Can this Fact be disputed ? 
 Did not Marshal Saxe defeat us and our 
 Allies, in repeated Battles ; overrun the 
 whole Netherlands, break down the Dutch 
 Barrier, and threaten the total Overthrow 
 of the Balance of Europe, as much as France 
 did in 1793? At the Peace of Aix la Cha- 
 pelle, in 1748, Louis had attained to a very 
 elevated Point of Glory, cemented by Mo- 
 deration. But, he lived to become the Scorn 
 of his Subjects and of Europe. While, how- 
 ever, I thus expose the wanton or inexcus- 
 able Inattention to Fact in the Reviewers, 
 I must with equal Candour admit that they 
 have pointed out an Error in this part of my 
 Work, which I gladly correct. It is where 
 I have said that Henry the Fourth conquer- 
 ed the Counties of Bourg and Bresse. It 
 should have been Bugey and Bresse. The
 
 40 
 
 Mistake was a mere Inadvertence of the Pen, 
 but I return them Thanks for having noticed 
 it. Indeed, no Details, however minute, 
 seem to have been considered by them as 
 beneath their Notice, which might, as they 
 hoped, cover me with Confusion. I would 
 nevertheless ask, on what Ground they pre- 
 sume to assert that J have made " a horrible 
 " Insinuation against the late Stadtholder." 
 Where, and what is it? They are bound to 
 speak out. I have said of the Prince of 
 Orange, that, " after arriving in this Coun- 
 " try, under a dark political Cloud, and after 
 " residing here many Years, without acquir- 
 " ing the public Esteem, or redeeming his 
 " public Character, he finally and precipi- 
 " tately quitted England under a still darker 
 "Cloud." What " horrible Insinuation" is 
 couched under these words ? " Honi soit, 
 " qui mal y pense." 
 
 I pass over the coarse and vulgar Accusa- 
 tions of " Nastiness, Obscenity, Impurity," 
 &c. these being, as I before observed, only 
 " the Gleanings f the Field ;" and having 
 already answered their Predecessors, the 
 " Quarterly Review " and " British Critic," 
 on all these Points. But, I cannot allow their
 
 41 
 
 Animadversions on the Fate of John and 
 Cornelius de Witt, to remain unnoticed. If 
 the Edinburgh Reviewers had looked into 
 the second Edition of My Work, which lay 
 before them ; they would there have seen, 
 that in order to guard against malignant Re- 
 presentations respecting the Death of the 
 two de Witts, which, I was sensible, might 
 be made, from the brief manner in which I 
 had alluded to their tragical End ; 1 have 
 said, " Van Berkel merited the Fate which 
 " unjustly befel t/te two de Witts, and only 
 " escaped it by the inert and incapable Con- 
 " duct of the Stadtholder." Yet, this is the 
 Passage, for which the Reviewers assert, " I 
 " should be punished by the general Exe- 
 " cration of Mankind," as exhibiting " Symp- 
 " toms of unmanly Ferocity," and " degrad- 
 " ing the English Language into a Vehicle 
 " of cowardly and sanguinary Maxims." 
 Perhaps, however, I ought not to be sur- 
 prized at this exquisite Sensibility of the 
 Edinburgh Reviewers, when engaged in the 
 pious Office of rescuing from Odium, the 
 name of Van Berkel; an Enemy of England 
 and of the House of Orange, devoted to the 
 Interests of France and of America. He 
 was a natural and proper Object of their
 
 42 
 
 Admiration, in Proportion as he excites op- 
 posite Sensations in every loyal or patriotic 
 Bosom. 
 
 . 
 
 Whether Thiebault or I are most in the 
 right, as to the Cause of Prince Ferdinand of 
 Brunswic's Dismission from the Prussian 
 Service, is a Matter of very little Moment. 
 \ am most ready to allow and believe, that 
 fhiebault^ who resided long at Berlin, is 
 more likely to have given the true Reason, 
 than myself. The unworthy Motives assum- 
 ed by the Reviewers, as dictating the Man- 
 ner in which F have mentioned the Regent ; 
 followed by their Comments on my Asser- 
 tion, that " His present Majesty resembles 
 " the Antonines, in the leading Features of 
 " his Character ;" such Animadversions 
 neither admit Reply, nor merit an Answer. 
 But, when they pass the Line of Truth, in- 
 Order to oppress me, I shall always flatly 
 contradict them. How are they warranted 
 m asserting that I have said, " George the 
 " Second eagerly told the Countess of Yar- 
 " mouth, a* a Piece of good News, * Freddy 
 " is dead.' " My Account runs thus. " His 
 " Majesty had just sat down to Play, and 
 " was engaged at Cards, when a Page, dis*
 
 43 
 
 " patched from Leicester House, arrived, 
 " bringing information that the Prince was 
 " no more. He received the Intelligence 
 " without testifying either Emotion or Sur- 
 " prize. Then rising, he crossed the Room 
 " to Lady Yarmouth's Table, who was like- 
 " wise occupied at Play ; and leaning over 
 " her Chair said to her in a low Tone of 
 " Voice, in German, ' Fritz is dode.' Freddy 
 " is dead. Having communicated it to Her, 
 " he instantly withdrew." Where is the 
 Eagerness, or the Joy, as at a Piece of good 
 News, here manifested? It exists only in 
 the Pages of these Scotch Munckhausens, 
 who exaggerate or twist every Fact to their 
 own Purposes. That George the Second 
 did not particularly love his eldest Son, nor 
 perhaps had any great Reason so to do, is 
 Matter of Notoriety: but, he did not dis- 
 grace himself before Spectators, by display- 
 ing his Satisfaction at the Prince's Decease. 
 How hard run must these Reviewers have 
 been, to find real Matter of Censure or of 
 Condemnation in my Work, when they are 
 reduced to invent Circumstances, to suit the 
 humiliating Task which they have under- 
 taken to perform !
 
 44 
 
 But, we come now to " the Coalition of 
 " Lord North and Fox;" a subject on which 
 their Feelings overcoming their Judgment, 
 have carried them far beyond the sober 
 Bounds of Reason or of Decorum. While 
 they accuse me of " atrociously libelling the 
 " Memory of Lord North ;" because I assign 
 Motives to justify or palliate his Union with 
 Fox, drawn from Prudence, and from bis 
 political Situation at the Close of the Ameri- 
 can War ; they suppose me to be animated 
 by " Rancour" against Mr. Fox, which Sen- 
 timent they ingeniously ascribe to " Syco- 
 " phancy." To whom, I would ask, could 
 I make my Court in 1815, by descending 
 systematically to calumniate Mr. Fox, if I 
 were capable of such Baseness ? It would 
 be thrown away on the King, and no Man 
 doubts that it would awaken Sentiments of 
 mingled Aversion and Resentment in the 
 Bosom of the Regent. Lord Liverpool, 1 
 fancy, will not suspect me of meaning to 
 render myself acceptable to him, by tradu- 
 cing an illustrious Adversary, long since 
 dead. " But, it requires," say the Review- 
 ers, " the fullest Operation of the composing 
 " Power of Contempt, to preserve the Mind 
 " from some Indignation, at reading in such
 
 45 
 
 " a Writer as this, that Mr. Fox's Claims on 
 " Office, were unsustained by moral Quali- 
 " ties." Did these Gentlemen never hear 
 the Answer of Father O'Leary to the Bishop 
 of Waterford, when discussing the Doctrine 
 of Purgatory? " Your Lordship," said he, 
 " may go farther ; and fare worse" I have 
 spoken o/ Mr. Fox, as I thought of him, 
 with. Admiration,- but, with Freedom; and 
 I believe, even his Friends admit, with Can- 
 dour and Impartiality, though I generally 
 differed from him on political Subjects, and 
 peculiarly disapproved of the Part that he 
 took after the Commencement of the French 
 Revolution. 
 
 It is, however, only by unfairly selecting 1 
 a few detached Words of a long Sentence, 
 and reasoning on so fallacious a Basis, cal- 
 culated for low Purposes of Deception, that 
 the Reviewers can pretend even to accuse 
 me of diminishing Mr. Fox's Claim to moral 
 Esteem and Approbation. I regret the Ne- 
 cessity of citing from my own Work, but it 
 is necessary to my Honour, to expose the 
 malignant and uncandid .Nature of the At- 
 tacks made on me. In summing up Mr. 
 Fox's Character, I have said, " If Energy of
 
 46 
 
 " Mind, Enlargement of Views, Firmness of 
 " Character, Amenity of Manners, Acquaint- 
 " ance with foreign Courts and Languages, 
 " Facility in conducting Business, and pro- 
 " digious intellectual Powers, combining 
 " Eloquence, Application, as well as Dis- 
 
 " cernment; if these Endowments are 
 
 " considered as forming an incontestable 
 " Claim to public Employment, unsustained 
 " by moral Qualities, or by Property; we 
 " must condemn the Sentence of Exclusion 
 " passed upon him. Those Persons on the 
 " other Hand, who consider all Talent, how- 
 " ever eminent, as radically defective, unless 
 " sustained by Decorum, and a Regard for 
 " Opinion; as well as all who prefer So- 
 " briety of Conduct, Regularity of Deport- 
 " ment, and the Virtues of private Life, 
 " above any Ability which Nature can be- 
 " stow on Man ; lastly, all who regard 
 " Judgment, under the Controul of strict 
 " Principle, as the fnost indispensable Re- 
 " quisite of a Minister, to whom the public 
 " Honour and Felicity are in some Measure 
 
 " necessarily entrusted ; such Persons 
 
 " will probably hesitate before they decide 
 " too hastily, on the Degree of Censure or 
 " of Commendation which the King's Con-
 
 47 
 
 4< duct towards Fox, ought to excite in our 
 " Minds." Now, after perusing this Descrip- 
 tion, any unprejudiced Mind may pass Sen- 
 tence. Let it be remembered too, that the 
 Portrait here drawn, is not the Mr. Fox of 
 Fifty, such as we remember him, residing at 
 St. Anne's Hill, a married Man, leading a 
 domestic Life, in the Bosom of Letters and 
 Researches of Taste : but, it is Mr. Fox at 
 thirty-two, as he was in 1781, living in St. 
 James's Street, close to Brookes's; and still 
 devoted to those Gratifications by which 
 he had impaired his Health, ruined his 
 Fortune, and diminished his brilliant Re- 
 putation. 
 
 The Reviewers dilate with a Sort of Exulta- 
 tion, on the Circumstances of Mr. Fox's 
 having passed three Nights, at Lord Rock- 
 ingham's House, armed, during the Riots of 
 June, 1780; and on his having collared one 
 of the Rioters, whom he brought Prisoner 
 to Grosvenor Square. No Man ever ques- 
 tioned his Attachment to the Head of his 
 own Party, or his Abhorrence of the Exces- 
 ses of a ferocious Mob, which manifested as 
 much Antipathy to the Members of Opposi- 
 tion, as to the Government. But, the Ques- 
 VOL. i. e
 
 "48 
 
 tion is, Did Mr. Fox, " when pressed in the 
 " House of Commons, to co-operate for the 
 " Extrication of the Capital, lend any Sup- 
 " port to Administration in that Moment of 
 " national Distress," as Burke did? I shall 
 not descend to answer the Accusation of 
 " slandering Lord Effingham," or " insinua- 
 " ting that the Opposition were connected 
 " with the Rioters;" because, only determined 
 Malignity can lay such absurd Imputations 
 to my Charge, after perusing the Passages 
 where those Subjects are mentioned in the 
 Memoirs. On General Fitzpatrick, I am 
 necessitated to say a few Words, though re- 
 luctantly, as I am charged with. " False- 
 " hood," in speaking of the Decay of his 
 Talents, previous to his Decease. The last 
 Time. that. I ever met that distinguished Per- 
 son in Company, was, one Morning, at Chol- 
 mtmdeley House, a very short Time before 
 his Death ; when, not only his Faculties, 
 but, even his Articulation seemed to me to 
 have sustained a Diminution, or a Shock; 
 though probably, as Prior said of Charles, 
 Earl of Dorset, he might still " drivel better 
 " Sense, than other Men spoke." Dining at 
 the same House, either on that Day, or soon 
 afterwards, and mention beiag accidentally
 
 40 
 
 made of General Fitzpatrick ; some Decline 
 of his intellectual Fire and Vigor of Mind, 
 seemed to be generally admitted by all pre- 
 sent. But, even on a Supposition that I 
 erred in so imagining, how do I deserve to 
 have it asserted, that " I seek a disgraceful 
 " Popularity, by exposing the Decay of Men 
 " of Genius, to make Sport for the Rabble"? 
 The Reviewers ought to be well remunerated 
 for these Sacrifices of Decorum, Truth, and 
 Character. I have spoken of General Fitz- 
 patrick, with Delicacy and Concern. Does 
 Johnson " seek disgraceful Popularity, or 
 " make Sport for the Rabble," when in his 
 Translation of the tenth Satire of Juvenal, 
 he observes, 
 
 " From Marlbro's Eyes the Tears of Dotage flow, 
 And Swift expires a Driv'ler, and a Show" ? 
 
 I leave Dr. Musgrave's Information and 
 Evidence, to its own intrinsic Weight; only 
 reminding the Reviewers, that when they 
 rashly, as well as ignorantly assert, that 
 " the Tale was patronized by no one, in, or 
 " out of Parliament, with the single Excep- 
 " tion of the unscrupulous Junius" they pro- 
 bably have never read Wilkes's Letter to the 
 Electors of A"ylesbury, dated " Paris, 22d
 
 50 
 
 " October, 1764 ;" or the memorable " North 
 " Briton," No. 45. Whether either, or both 
 these Productions, constitute Authority, I 
 will not venture to say : but they unques- 
 tionably tend to corroborate Ross Mackay's 
 Account of the Venality of Parliament in 
 1763. Anxious as 1 am to take Leave of 
 my Scotch Accusers, I must yet notice the 
 Manner in which they inculpate my Mention 
 of the calumnious Reports respecting Lord 
 Shelburne's having purchased into the Funds, 
 previous to the Peace of 1783. If there be a 
 Part of these Memoirs, in which, contrary 
 to my ordinary Practice, I have used the 
 greatest Caution ; leaning throughout the 
 whole Narration, to a Disbelief of the Act 
 imputed, and attributing the Report itself, 
 to " the active Malignity of the First Minis- 
 " ter's Enemies," it is on the Point in Ques- 
 tion. I have even cited Mr. Pitt's Speech in 
 the House of Commons, of the 21st Febru- 
 ary, 1783, in which he alluded to " the Arts 
 " of Defamation adopted by Lord Shel- 
 " burne's Opponents, for the Purpose of 
 " degrading him in the national Estimation." 
 At the same time, Truth compelled me to 
 add, that " either He subsequently altered 
 "his Opinion, or his Actions contradicted
 
 51 
 
 " his Professions." And who, I would ask, 
 were Lord Shelburne's most inveterate Ene- 
 mies, whose Arts Mr. Pitt characterized as 
 " deserving his Scorn?" Were they not the 
 Adherents of Mr. Fox ? Did these well in- 
 formed Reviewers never hear of a Periodical 
 Paper called " The Jesuit," which appeared 
 during Lord Shelburne's Administration, in 
 1782? And are they so ignorant as not to 
 know who was its principal Author? Let 
 the Reviewers peruse the Speeches of Burke, 
 and of Lee, then Solicitor General, pro- 
 nounced in Parliament, between July, 1782, 
 and March, 1783. It seems impossible for 
 Language to accumulate more severe moral 
 Charges, than they respectively heaped upon 
 the first Lord of the Treasury. Lee de- 
 scribed him " as deficient in Probity, Inte- 
 " grity, and every estimable Quality." And 
 am I now, in 1815, to be held up to universal 
 Reprobation, for only mentioning that inju- 
 rious Reports were circulated relative to the 
 Earl of Shelburne ? If History be sunk so 
 low, and if Reviewers are with Impunity, 
 from their Retreat on the Banks of the Firth 
 of Forth, or hid in the Wyndes of Edinburgh, 
 to exhaust their impotent Rage on any Man 
 who presumes to write with Freedom on
 
 52 
 
 public Men and public Events, it is Time to 
 have done with historical Research. 
 
 " Frange leves Calamos, et scinde, Thalia, Libellos !" 
 
 Only one Word more on this Subject. " It 
 " would not be fit," say the Reviewers, " to 
 " lay open the Circumstances which occa- 
 " sioned the political Difference of Lord 
 " Shelburne and Mr. Pitt, for so trifling a 
 " Purpose, as that of confuting Sir N. Wrax- 
 " all." Yet, as two and thirty Years have 
 now elapsed since it took Place, one should 
 have thought, the Secret might have safely 
 been divulged, especially as it would tend 
 altogether to rescue Lord Shelburne's public 
 Character from any possible Misrepresenta- 
 tion. But, it seems, Mr. Pitt did not confer 
 the Marquisate of Lansdown oh that Noble- 
 man ; which Title, we are now told, " was 
 " requested and obtained directly from the 
 " King, by the Duke of Rutland, on his ac- 
 " cepting the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland." 
 I do not presume to contradict this Affirma- 
 tion of the Reviewers ; simply remarking, 
 that if the Duke of Rutland could thus dis- 
 pose of the highest Honours of the Crown, 
 without the Participation or Intervention of 
 the first Minister, in Favour of a Person with
 
 whom he was at Variance, or witli whom, at 
 least, he had a " political Difference ;" the 
 Duke was more powerful than the first Lord 
 of the Treasury. But, there occurs another 
 apparent Difficulty respecting it: for, the 
 Duke of Rutland went over to Dublin, early 
 in March, 1783, whereas Lord Shelburne 
 was not raised to the Marquisate, before 
 the End of the following November. I leave 
 these little Knots to be untied by the Re- 
 viewers. 
 
 For all the insulting personal Abuse with 
 which they have honoured me, for the Re- 
 flections on what they are pleased to deno- 
 minate my " public Morality," for the gener- 
 ous Solicitude that they demonstrate to pre- 
 vent the Mischief which must arise to So- 
 ciety, from the Diffusion of a Work so ma- 
 lignant, immoral, and licentious, as the 
 " Historical Memoirs," I thank the Edin- 
 burgh Reviewers. Their List of " Galli- 
 " cisms, Scotticisms, Hibernicisms, Barba- 
 " risms, Vulgarisms, incoherent Metaphors,- 
 " bad English, and absolute Nonsense," to 
 be found in the Work ; and which they 
 kindly point out to the World, as literary 
 Rocks and Quicksands, to be avoided by 
 succeeding Writers f claim the public Gra-
 
 54 
 
 titudc. There is great Philanthropy in such 
 disinterested Attention to prevent so perni- 
 cious a Book, of which two Thousand have 
 been already sold, from penetrating any fur- 
 ther, and corrupting the whole Fnhabitants 
 of the United Kingdom. I trust, the " So- 
 " ciety for the Suppression of Vice," will 
 notice as becomes them, these generous 
 Efforts of Men, who can have no Motive 
 except virtuous Indignation, to propel their 
 Endeavours ; and who find the Reward of 
 their Labours, in their own conscious Rec- 
 titude. Such Men are rare on this Side of 
 the Tweed, and should be encouraged, wher- 
 ever they are found. Yet, with their Zeal, 
 it would be as well, if they mixed a little 
 Knowledge and Moderation. For Instance, 
 when, towards the Conclusion of their Phi- 
 lippic, speaking of me, they say, " He is so 
 " perfectly regardless of Truth, that we are 
 " convinced, there is not a single Anecdote 
 " in the Book, which can be safely believed 
 " on his Testimony," they compel me to 
 stand on my Defence. JVot a single Anec- 
 dote! What! not the Account given of Lord 
 Sackville's Reception of the News of the 
 Surrender of the British Army, at York 
 Town ! The Earl of Glandore, and Mr. Her- 
 bert of Muckruss, his two Sons in Law, as
 
 55 
 
 well as Lord Walsingham, who were all 
 present, are still alive, and could contradict 
 it, if not true.* Do the Reviewers mean to 
 doubt my having sent the first Intelligence 
 overland to India, of the Peace of 1783 ; for 
 not doing which, the late Lord Sydney, then 
 Secretary of State, narrowly escaped, as I 
 know, being called on to make his Defence 
 in the House of Peers ? Will these Gentle* 
 men venture to question my Account of Sir 
 Fletcher Norton's Elevation to the Peerage 
 by Lord Rockingham ; and of his kissing 
 the King's Hand at the Queen's Drawing 
 Room, on his being raised to that Dignity ? 
 Which of the numerous Particulars recount- 
 ed, of George the Third, of Lord North, or 
 of Mr. Pitt, do they presume to deny ? Is it 
 the King's Interview and Conversation with 
 Lord George Germain, previous to his being 
 created a Viscount ; or is it the Story of Sir 
 Eyre Coote's red Ribband, which covered 
 Fox with no little Ridicule, in November, 
 1783, just before the Fall of the " Coalition"! 
 This Pyrrhonism is excessive. The most 
 determined Sceptic might believe something, 
 out of such a Mass of Anecdote, between 
 
 * Since this Answer was composed, I have lost the first 
 and the last of those three old Friends.
 
 M 
 
 1772 and 1784, as are contained in the 
 " Historical Memoirs." 
 
 The Contradictions and conflicting Opi- 
 nions of these " same learned Thebans," the 
 Reviewers, form not the least ridiculous Fea- 
 ture of their Criticisms; and prove that, 
 though they have all been " screwed up to 
 tTie sticking Place," namely extinguishing the 
 Work, yet they differ toto Ccelo, on the main 
 Points of their Judgment. For Instance, the 
 " British Critic" says, (Page 27) " The Mate- 
 "- rials of his Second Part, are much superior 
 " to those of the first" Now hear the " Edin- 
 " burgh Review," (Page 188.) " On the 
 " whole, it must be owned that the Part of 
 " the Book which relates to the Continent, 
 " is much more tolerable than that which re- 
 " gards England." Again, upon the Subject 
 of Mr. Fox, the " Quarterly" and the " Edin- 
 " burgh," are, (as might indeed be expected,) 
 completely opposed to each other. The first 
 of these worthy Reviews says, " The Friends 
 " of the late Mr. Fox, will allege that Sir 
 " Nathaniel has been unjust to that eminent 
 " Man : but we think that on this delicate 
 " Subject, the Opinion of Sir N. is not only 
 " sincere, but, justified by the Circumstances
 
 57 
 
 *' of 'Mr. Fox's Life" After very warmly 
 inveighing against that great Statesman, for 
 "'the Mischief of his public Conduct, and his 
 " Sacrifices to Ambition," they add, " We 
 " say nothing of his Conduct hi latter Times. 
 " On that Subject we confess, we ourselves 
 " could scarcely write impartially. But, 
 " with Regard to the Transactions that Sir 
 " N. Wraxall relates, we must do him the 
 " Justice to say, that we think his Bias 
 " against the Politics of Mr. Fox, is not 
 " only just and reasonable ; but, that similar 
 " Sentiments are common to the great Ma- 
 " jority of Mankind." (See Quart. Review, 
 Pages 206 and 207.) These Opinions are 
 Wormwood to the Advocates of Fox, who 
 indignantly exclaim, " To apply such Lan- 
 " guage as Sir Nathaniel applies to Mr. Fox, 
 ". is, indeed, to libel all his eminent Contem- 
 " poraries ; and through them, the Age and 
 " Nation of which they were the Ornaments." 
 Their pious Rage, excited by the Comments 
 which I have made upon their great Idol, 
 makes them strike at Random, and heap 
 upon me at once Accusations of Sycophancy 
 and of Falsify, blended with Rancour, which 
 entitle me at once to their Indignation and 
 their Contempt. (See " Edinburgh Review,"
 
 Pages 204206, and 207.) But, it would 
 lead me too far, if I were to attempt to point 
 out the Inconsistencies of Men, who seem to 
 be agreed only on one Point, that of earning 
 the Reward of their virulent Attack on the 
 Book, and on its Author. 
 
 All the Thunders of the Scottish Vatican 
 are concentred in their concluding Sentence, 
 which, though long, yet as containing the 
 Quintessence of their critical Acumen, and 
 displaying a Specimen of impartial literary 
 Justice, I must transcribe. Speaking of the 
 Work before us, they say, " By the disgust- 
 " ing or indecent Character of his private 
 " Anecdotes; by his Belief in Stories, which 
 " were always incredible ; by his Attempt to 
 " perpetuate Weaknesses, which ought to be 
 " forgotten; by the shameless Profligacy, or 
 " atrocious Criminality of the Acts, which he 
 " imputes coolly and groundlessly to public 
 " Men, with no other Distinction than that 
 " inspired by a pretty constant, though not 
 " a very judicious Attention, to the Wishes 
 " of the powerful ; he has done his utmost 
 " to blacken the Character of his Age and 
 " Country, to extinguish all Confidence in 
 " political Honesty, and thus to destroy that
 
 " public Esteem, which is the only outward 
 " Reward of those who do not court royal 
 rt Favour." Why, what a nefarious Book 
 must this be ! It ought to be burnt by the 
 common Hangman, opposite the Tolbooth 
 of Edinburgh, under the immediate Direc- 
 tion of the Scotch Reviewers, habited as Spa- 
 nish Inquisitors. The " Essay on Woman," 
 fell short of it in Indecency. Aretine and 
 Machiavel were not so subversive of public 
 Morality. Boccace, La Rochefoucault, or 
 Brantoine, could not compete in Profligacy 
 with such a Work. John Knox himself, 
 their own Countryman, in his holy Rage 
 against the Whore of Babylon, against Po- 
 pery and Monarchy, scarcely surpassed the 
 Virulence of these Reviewers. Methinks I 
 behold them, perched on the sacr-ed Mauso- 
 leum of David Hume, from the Summit of 
 the Calton Hill, darting thejr black Light- 
 nings on my devoted Head! I am never- 
 theless, I assure them, unappalled and un- 
 dismayed. These are not the Arrows of 
 Teucer : they are the imbecile and harmless 
 Darts of Priam. " Telum imbelle, sine Icfa" 
 which inflict no Wound, and leave no Cica- 
 trice. The Rumbling of their Thunder, only 
 reminds us of the ^brazen-hoofed Horses of
 
 60 
 
 Salmoneus, and never can imitate the Bolts 
 of Jove. 
 
 But, let me calmly ask these worthy 
 Guardians of the Chastity and Purity of the 
 British Press, what is their Object in thus 
 letting loose their Rage on me ? Is it in the 
 Hope or Expectation of at once putting down 
 the Book, and extinguishing it under Invec- 
 tives ? Do they fancy that the English 
 People will give them Credit for immaculate 
 Criticism, and for unbought Censure? Or 
 ,do they consider themselves as the Dictators 
 of Literature, 
 
 " Knights of the Polar Star, by Learning placed, 
 " To shine the Cynosure of British Taste" ? 
 
 If these are their Expectations, I trust, they 
 will be speedily undeceived, and they egre- 
 gibusly mistake the Limits of their Power, j 
 
 " Non illis Imperium Calamo !" 
 
 Neither their Praise nor their Satire can ope- 
 rate beyond the Moment, unless it be sus- 
 tained by Truth, Candour, and Impartiality. 
 In the violent, as well as indecent Attack 
 which they have now made, we trace the in- 
 herent Proof of some foul Interference. Else,
 
 61 
 
 how shall we account for the " Quarterly 
 " and Edinburgh Reviews" forming a literary 
 Coalition, like that so famous political Union 
 of 1783, which, as they may remember, co- 
 vered both Parties with Disgrace and Shame? 
 It is time however that I should take final 
 leave of these Reviewers, which I do by 
 parodying the Words of Sterne, addressed 
 to the venerable Doctors of the Sorbonne, 
 when he hopes that they rested well after 
 their Consultation. I trust in like Manner, 
 that the Conductors of the " Edinburgh Re- 
 " view," will receive from the Public, the 
 merited Reivard of their laborious and ma- 
 levolent Attack on a Work, which, however 
 great or numerous, as I admit, may be its 
 Defects, is characterized in every Page, by 
 Qualities vainly to be sought in their Pro- 
 ductions ; namely, Loyalty to the Sovereign, 
 Detestation of French Principles, Abhor- 
 rence of Bonaparte and all his fallen Jacobin 
 Gang, Attachment to the Crown, and Reve- 
 rence for the British Constitution. 
 
 N. WILLIAM WRAXALL. 
 
 Charlton, near Cheltenham, 
 Wednesday, 6th September, 1815.
 
 ANSWER 
 
 THE CALUMNIOUS ATTACKS 
 
 THE 
 
 EDINBURGH REVIEW." 
 
 BY SIR N. W. WRAXALL, BART. 
 
 iLonHon: 
 
 1818.
 
 SECOND ANSWER, 
 
 Paris, No. 21, 2uai Voltaire, 
 27th January, 1816. 
 
 WHEN I last answered the Attack of the 
 " Quarterly Review ;" for, I held the " Brit- 
 " ish Critic " in too much Contempt, to have 
 ever given that Publication any separate Re- 
 ply ; nor should I probably have attempted 
 to repel the Calumnies of the " Quarterly 
 " Review," if the unprovoked, and appa- 
 rently inexplicable Abuse directed against 
 Sir John Macpherson, had not roused me ; 
 
 1 confidently believed, the Editors of 
 
 that Review, could never notice it. So 
 strong is the internal Evidence of the Ar- 
 ticle " having been made for them, not by 
 " them ;" and so palpably is the Demonstra- 
 tion of this disgraceful Fact, impressed on 
 every Page, that its ostensible Authors had 
 no Shelter from public Shame, except in 
 
 f2
 
 2 
 
 Silence. Hid, and in some Measure lost in 
 the Immensity of the English Metropolis; 
 terrified at the Idea of my disclosing the 
 Means which had been used to engage their 
 Services ; and the Name of the Person em- 
 ployed ; in the Lapse of near five Months, 
 they have exhibited no Sign of Life. Not 
 so the " Edinburgh Review." Though 
 London might conceal the Disgrace of the 
 " Quarterly," no Wynde of the " ancient Ca- 
 " pital" of Scotland, could be found dark 
 enough to shield from the Sneers and Con- 
 tempt of their Countrymen, these Munck- 
 hausens of the North. We may easily per- 
 ceive how they wrythe and twist under the 
 Chastisement inflicted on them, and how 
 deeply they feel the Application of the 
 " Metaphors," which they affect to despise. 
 Sir Fretful Plagiary did not betray more 
 Distress, nor smile more ruefully, than does 
 the "idle Advocate," who, generously ex- 
 tending his Shield over his Associates in 
 Humiliation, " throws away an Hour" in 
 exposing the Errors of my Work. In that 
 short Space of Time he has, as he asserts, 
 actually written an Article containing above 
 fourteen small, closely printed Pages, nearly 
 equalling in Magnitude my " Answer," which
 
 3 
 
 certainly cost me some Days to compose : 
 indeed, the Article cannot be perused in an 
 Hour, nor copied in six Hours. Why, his 
 Countryman, the " Admirable Creighton," 
 never wrote with such Facility, as this " idle 
 " Advocate ;" and Justus Lipsius's Work, of 
 which Tristram Shandy says, that " they 
 " should have wiped it up, and said no more 
 " about it," cannot be placed in any Com- 
 petition with the Production before us. If, 
 however, I cannot rival him in Rapidity of 
 Composition, I trust that I shall exceed him 
 in the more essential Branches of Solidity, 
 Truth, and every Quality that can enforce 
 Conviction on an unprejudiced Mind. 
 
 After this short Exordium, I will endea- 
 vour, with all the Brevity of which the Sub- 
 ject is susceptible ; for, my first Object is 
 
 a wide Circulation ; to answer pointedly 
 
 the Accusations and Calumnies either re- 
 peated or invented in this " Edinburgh Re- 
 " view ;" not even omitting the Personalities, 
 which, in Violation of Liberality or De- 
 cency, have been introduced into it. And 
 in Order to fix the Writer to his " Charges," 
 I will take the Series as he ha^ enumerated
 
 them, beginning with those to which he says 
 " I have made no Answer." They amount 
 to six in Number, if, after all, such Allega- 
 tions can deserve to be entitled Charges, or 
 are susceptible of any specific Reply. 
 
 The first is, that " I impute Cowardice to 
 " Louis the Sixteenth." 
 
 The second, that " I accuse Mr. Pitt, Mr. 
 " Fox, and Mr. Burke, of being ready to 
 " bring Lord North to the Block." 
 
 The third, that " I accuse Lord North of 
 " having coalesced with Mr. Fox, from 
 " prudential Motives." 
 
 The fourth, (if it means any thing,) arraigns 
 me for attributing to Lord Thurlow, the 
 Reply which he made to His Majesty, 
 when the King entertained Ideas of visit- 
 ing his Hanoverian Dominions. 
 
 The fifth and sixth form a complicated 
 Charge ; namely, that I first " impute to 
 " tljie King, Duplicity to his Ministers ;" 
 and next, that " I excuse or approve his 
 " Conduct." 
 
 These heavy Accusations, the " idle Ad- 
 " vocate" says, " are all passed over in pro-
 
 "found and prudent Silence." I will en- 
 deavour al least to remove that Ground of 
 Censure. 
 
 To the first Charge, I reply that 1 never 
 did impute Cowardice to Louis the Six- 
 teenth. I have indeed said that " his per- 
 " sonal Courage was problematical, and that 
 " he did not comport himself with the 
 " Serenity and Self-possession of Charles 
 " the First, and Mary, Queen of Scots, 
 " when laying down their Heads on the 
 " Block." But, so far have I been from en- 
 deavouring to prove that he was a Coward, 
 I add, (after remarking on the Nature of the 
 Guillotine, as " bereaving Death of all its 
 " Grace and Dignity,") " I have likewise 
 " seen and read very strong Attestations to 
 " the Firmness displayed by the King of 
 " France, in his last Moments." Nay, I have 
 produced one Proof addressed to the Duke 
 of Dorset, which declares that he died, 
 " with the most heroic Courage." His 
 " Attempt to resist or impede the Execu- 
 " tioners," to which I allude, might, and 
 probably did arise from other Motives and 
 Feelings than personal Fear. Even Marie 
 Antoinette turned pale at Sight of the Quil-
 
 lotine. And, after all, what Sort of a Charge 
 is this? The Courage of Louis the Fif- 
 teenth, nay, of Louis the Fourteenth, was 
 problematical. So was that of Charles the 
 Second, and even of James the Second: 
 while Charles the First and William the 
 Third manifested the greatest Intrepidity in 
 the Field. J retract not one Word, nor re- 
 cede from one Expression that I have used, 
 relative to Louis the 16th. Let the Edin- 
 burgh Reviewers make the most of it. 
 
 To the second Charge I answer, that both 
 Fox and Burke did many Times menace 
 Xord North with the Scaffold, between 1779 
 and 1782. If any Man can doubt it, he has 
 only to read " Woodfall's Parliamentary 
 " Register." But I have no where said that 
 Mr. Pitt, though he expressed his Abhor- 
 rence of the American War, and of the Ad- 
 ministration who conducted it, threatened the 
 First Minister with the Block. These Scotch 
 Reviewers mingle Truth with Falsehood ; 
 but it is easy to detect and expose their Arts 
 of Deception. 
 
 I adhere to, and I maintain the Justice of 
 every Word or Sentiment which constitutes
 
 the Object of the third Charge; namely, 
 that " Lord North's Junction with the Party 
 " which had so long opposed him, has al- 
 " ways appeared to me to admit of much 
 " more Palliation, than the Conduct of Fox 
 " and his Adherents." These are my Ex- 
 " pressions, when speaking of the " Coali- 
 " tion." (See Page 310 312, second Vo- 
 lume of the " Memoirs," second Edition. 
 Or Pages 308 and 309, of the third Volume 
 of the third Edition.) Unquestionably, in my 
 Opinion, Lord North acted with Prudence, 
 in meeting Fox's Overtures for a Reconcilia- 
 tion and Union. I do not say that he acted 
 with Magnanimity or Elevation of Mind. 
 
 Without being affected in the smallest 
 Degree by the Comments of the Edinburgh 
 Reviewers, J believe on good Authority, that 
 Lord Thurlow made the Answer to His 
 Majesty, commemorated at Page 332 of the 
 second Volume of the " Memoirs ;" and at 
 Page 353 of the third Volume of the Work, 
 in the present Edition; which forms their 
 fourth Accusation. 
 
 I deny that / attribute to His Majesty, 
 " Duplicity towards his Ministers." Let the 
 World judge. My Words are, (Page 464 of
 
 the second Volume, of the second Edition ; 
 or Page 596 of the third Volume of the 
 third Edition ;) " There were nevertheless, 
 " it must be admitted, many Individuals 
 11 who thought that the royal Disapproba- 
 " lion should have been earlier signified ; 
 " and who inclined to accuse the King of 
 " something like Duplicity or Deception, in 
 " his Treatment of Administration." But, 
 I fully admit that His Majesty's Line of Ac- 
 tion is by me exculpated and justified, for 
 the Reasons assigned ; which Conduct of 
 the King I approve at this Time, as much 
 as I did in 1783. I think I cannot give a 
 more specific Answer to the fifth and sixth 
 Points. The Reviewers must now confess 
 that I do not " stand mute on my Arraign- 
 " ment." 
 
 Having met and silenced these minor Ob- 
 jects of impotent and malignant Accusation, 
 I come to the great Charge respecting Dr. 
 Musgrave's Assertion, that " the Princess 
 " Dowager of Wales and Lord Bute received 
 " Money from the French Court, for aiding 
 " to effect the Peace." The " Edinburgh 
 " Review," with that Audacity which com- 
 monly accompanies, and sometimes shelters 
 Ignorance, rashly ventured in their fast
 
 Criticism on the " Memoirs," to say that 
 " the Tale was patronized by no one, in or 
 " out of Parliament, with the single Excep- 
 " don of the unscrupulous Junius." And 
 now, when I have exposed their Unacquaint- 
 ance with Wilkes's Letter to the Electors of 
 Aylesbury, as well as their Inattention to 
 the " North Briton," No. 45. ; what is their 
 
 Reply?- Do they venture to impugn or 
 
 to deny those Corroborations ? No 
 
 They say, " We are disposed by Charity, 
 " to leave him undisputed Possession of 
 " Wilkes's Address to the Electors of Ayles- 
 " bury. It is absolutely his best historical 
 
 " Authority? What more authentic 
 
 Testimony or Proof can well be produced 
 in Confirmation of any public Fact, than a 
 Letter written by a Member of the very 
 Parliament accused by him of Venality ; 
 dated in 1764, the Year subsequent to the 
 Peace in Question ; addressed to his own 
 Constituents ; printed and circulated at the 
 Time, throughout the Kingdom ? Such a 
 Document outweighs twenty Pages of vul- 
 gar Abuse. The " idle Advocate" would 
 do well to remember that Charity begins at 
 home. He and his Associates will stand 
 in need of much Indulgence for their De-
 
 10 
 
 viations from Liberality, Truth, and Deco- 
 rum. 
 
 The Public might with Reason censure 
 me, if I obtruded my own private Affairs on 
 their Notice, while repelling the Calumnies 
 thrown on my literary Character. Nor can 
 it be necessary for me to give any Answer 
 to the scurrilous Personalities which the 
 Reviewers obscurely sustain by Allusions 
 to " Benfield's Ledger," the " Memoirs of 
 " Ossian," or the Stories of " six Members 
 " of the House of Commons sent to that As- 
 " sembly, by the fair or fraudulent Creditors 
 " of the Nabob of the Carnatic." But, when 
 they presume to assert,, that ** in a judicial 
 " Examination," (no doubt, before the Car- 
 natic Commissioners,) " I pretty intelligibly 
 " assigned the Interest of those Creditors, 
 " as the Motive of my Vote against the 
 " India Bill, on the 1st of December, 1783," 
 the Reviewers, or their Informers, are guilty 
 of a gross Violation of Truth. It is indeed 
 the Engine to which they systematically have 
 Recourse, and by which alone they can at- 
 tempt to colour their next Charge ; namely, 
 that when I say, " the Consciousness of all 
 " India being subjected to the rapacious
 
 " Hands of Fox's Adherents, by no Means 
 " tended to tranquillize the public Mind," 
 I mean to throw a Stigma on " the Com- 
 " missioners for Indian Affairs, Lord Fitz- 
 " william, the late Lord Dartmouth, the 
 " late Lord Guildford, and the late Lord 
 " Minto." Unfortunately for the Edinburgh 
 Reviewers, they have mistaken the Time 
 when my Observation is made, which was in 
 November, 1783, whereas the Commissioners 
 above mentioned were not then in Existence; 
 the " East India Bill" in which they were 
 named, not having even passed the House 
 of Commons before the 9th of December. 
 It now remains therefore for these worthy 
 and candid, but, ignorant Reviewers, to ex- 
 plain, how I could by Possibility mean to 
 assert or to imply, that Commissioners who 
 were not themselves yet appointed, had 
 nevertheless already " promised or filled up 
 " the first Employments in India." My Re- 
 mark applies to the personal Promises or 
 Engagements made by Administration, pre- 
 vious to the Passage of the " East India Bill" 
 through the lower House. This impotent 
 Attempt to mislead, and to implicate the 
 little Passions of human Nature in the Cause 
 of Calumny, by naming four Noblemen of
 
 high and unspotted Character, as the Objects 
 of my Animadversion, will only revert on its 
 Authors. The Public will judge between 
 them and me. 
 
 In the first Criticism of my Work, the 
 Reviewers accused me of " making Louis 
 " the 15th my Hero" and of asserting that 
 he " had covered himself with Glory." When 
 I exposed the Falsehood of this Imputation, 
 by Citations from the Book itself, proving 
 the direct contrary; instead of confessing 
 their Fault, and asking Pardon for such 
 shameful Misrepresentation, what do they 
 
 now say ? " We hurry over small Matters. 
 
 " He said that Louis the 15th had covered 
 " himself with Glory. This we thought the 
 " Height of Ridicule, till Sir IN. employed 
 " two Pages of what he calls his Answer, to 
 " prove it, which we think more ridiculous 
 " still." And is this their Excuse for a 
 wanton Perversion of Truth, when sitting in 
 Judgment on a literary Work, after being 
 exposed in all their Deformity, as twisting 
 every Fact to their own Purposes ? With 
 similar Audacity they invent, where they 
 cannot find, Subject for Accusation. I had 
 already proved, by quoting my own Words,
 
 13 
 
 that I never represented the King of Portu- 
 gal, " as a drunken old Moor." They now 
 assert that I have said, " He had a Face 
 " carbuncled by hard Drinking." Where, 
 in what Page, are these Words, or any syno- 
 nymous Expressions to be found ? The Fa- 
 cility which, Hamlet says, accompanies the 
 Act of violating Truth, may tempt these 
 systematic Munckhausens to have Recourse 
 to the Expedient : but they may be assured 
 it will eventually cover them with Shame. 
 Though slow, the Verdict of the Public will 
 overtake them. My Erudition informs me, 
 and will prove to them before the Close of 
 1816, that 
 
 " Raro antecedentem Scelestum 
 " Deseruit Pede Pana claudo." 
 
 But, we come now to what they denomi- 
 nate " higher Matter :" for, these Men see 
 nothing in created Nature, so high as their 
 Idol. They employ two long Pages in de- 
 manding Proof that " Fox refused to lend 
 " any personal Support to Government 
 " during the Riots of June, 1780, though 
 " Burke in the House of Commons loudly 
 " expressed his Wish for Unanimity." What 
 Proof would they have ? I was not then in 
 Parliament, myself, not having been elected
 
 till September of that Year. I cannot there- 
 fore assert it from my own Recollection. 
 And if] could have done it, they would dis- 
 pute my Accuracy or Veracity. The Fact 
 is now of near thirty-six Years ago. Wit- 
 nesses, therefore, such as the Reviewers call 
 for, are not to be found every Day. But, 
 Burke's more pronounced and unequivocal 
 Support given to Government on that trying 
 Occasion, was Matter of Notoriety at the 
 Time. It grew out of the Characters of the 
 two Individuals, which were most dissimilar, 
 though then fighting under the same Banner. 
 I have remarked it, when delineating the 
 Character of Burke. Speaking of him and 
 of Fox, (" Memoirs," Vol. 2d, Pages 39 and 
 40, of the second Edition % or Pages 280 and 
 281, of the second Volume of the third Edi- 
 tion,) I observe that "Even in their nearest 
 " Approximations, there were always essen- 
 " tial and striking Distinctions between the 
 " two Opposition Leaders." The Case in 
 Question was one of them. In 1793, they 
 diverged with inconceivable Violence, in op-- 
 posite Directions, nevermore to be reunited. 
 And what was the Cause of that Separation? 
 Was it not because Burke " lent his per- 
 " sonal Support to Government," against
 
 15 
 
 Insurrection, Jacobinism, Regicide, and An- 
 archy ; all which Fox took under his Protec- 
 tion, though he denominated them Liberty? 
 This is my Answer to the Reviewers. 
 
 vrr 
 
 They return to the Charge of my having, 
 as they unfairly assert, declared that " Mr. 
 " Fox's Claims to Office, were unsustained 
 " by moral Qualities." I cannot more com- 
 pletely answer or refute that Mis-Statement, 
 than I have already done in my last Reply; 
 a Mis-Statement, " only calculated for low 
 " Purposes of Deception." The Reviewers 
 are pleased to denominate my Justification, 
 " a Hubble-bubble of Words, with which 
 " they do not chuse to encumber their 
 " Pages." I adhere fully to my Opinion of 
 Mr. Fox, as contained in that " Hubble- 
 " bubble of Words ;" and if they were his 
 enlightened Friends, instead of his servile 
 Admirers, they would be satisfied with the 
 Terras in which I have spoken of him. J 
 have nothing to retract or to alter in the Cha- 
 racter that I have drawn of Fox. It is impar- 
 tial, just, and candid ; neither dictated by 
 Flattery, nor tinctured in any Feature by 
 Enmity. I respect myself too much, to lend 
 jny Pen to the base Degradation of Party, 
 
 VOL. i. g
 
 16 
 
 dr to the vile Arts of Misrepresentation. 
 The only Recommendation of my Work, is 
 its Truth. 
 
 As little have I to retract any Part of my 
 Remarks on General Fitzpatrick, and the 
 Explanation that I gave on the Subject ; ex- 
 cept to put the Reviewers right, when, with 
 their accustomed Regard to Truth, they 
 make me " admit that I might have erred" in 
 supposing his mental Powers to have sus- 
 tained some Diminution in Brilliancy before 
 his Decease. 1 made no such Admission. 
 My Words are, " But, even on a Supposi- 
 *' tion that I erred in so imagining, how do 
 " I deserve to have it asserted, that I seek a 
 " disgraceful Popularity, by exposing the 
 " Decay of Men of Genius, to make Sport 
 " for the Rabble ?" The Reviewers ought 
 to know that an Hypothesis is not an Ad- 
 mission. Every Writer to the Signet can 
 tell them that Fact. 
 
 I leave the " idle Advocate" and his Asso- 
 ciates, to the undisturbed Enjoyment of any 
 Triumph that they may decree to themselves, 
 for their labored Hypercriticism on my Ex- 
 planation relative to the De Witts and Van
 
 17 
 
 Berk el. I hope it may console them for the 
 Mortifications to which they must submit, 
 from all those who appreciate the Value of 
 moral Character. 
 
 . 
 
 There exists not the slightest Contradic- 
 tion between my Assertion, that " George 
 " the Second considered his Son's- Recovery, 
 " if it should take Place, as an Object of 
 " the utmost Regret ,-" and his nevertheless 
 communicating the Intelligence of Frederic's 
 Decease, to Lady Yarmouth, " without tes- 
 " tifying either Emotion or Surprize." The 
 Reviewers affect to suppose, that a Man 
 may not regard an Event as in itself, under 
 certain Points of View, rather beneficial than 
 calamitous, without eagerly divulging, as a 
 " Piece of good News" the Accomplishment 
 of that Event: but, as I observed in my 
 former Answer, " the King did not disgrace 
 " himself before Spectators, by displaying 
 " his Satisfaction at the Prince's Decease." 
 
 If the Edinburgh Reviewers display equal 
 Ignorance and Incapacity in their legal Cha- 
 racters, as Advocates at the Bar of the Court 
 of Session, as they have demonstrated in 
 their literary Capacity, by their Attacks on
 
 18 
 
 my Work, their Clients may be justly con- 
 sidered as Objects of Compassion. Never 
 could this Observation have been more for- 
 cibly exemplified, than in their Defence of 
 the Earl of Shelburne. While relating the 
 Circumstances that accompanied his Resig- 
 nation as First Minister, in February, 1783, 
 J could not pass over in Silence, the injuri- 
 ous Reports circulated relative to that No- 
 bleinau ; Reports, which Mr. Pitt charac- 
 terized in Parliament, as " the Arts of Defa- 
 " mation, adopted by Lord Shelburne's Op- 
 " ponents, and as deserving his Scorn :" 
 Reports propagated by Fox's Followers, and 
 which were not long afterwards, (as was 
 commonly supposed,) embodied, if 1 may 
 use the Expression, by General Burgoyne, 
 in his Comedy of " the Heiress," where 
 not only " Allscrip" forms the principal 
 Character ; but, as we all remember, the 
 very Scenery was rendered subservient to 
 the same Effect. I believe, if my Memory 
 does not fail me, General Fitzpatrick wrote 
 the Prologue to this dramatic Piece, which 
 was supported on the Shoulders of the 
 Party. 
 
 Now let us see the Justification of Lord
 
 19 
 
 Shelburne, set up by the Reviewers. After 
 their usual Preface of Invective against my- 
 self, for having presumed even to mention 
 the Existence of such Reports, they add, 
 speaking of me, " His Logic is on a Level 
 " with his Morals. Because Mr. Burke 
 " and Mr. Lee perhaps abused the Liberty 
 " of Debate in 1782, in general Invective 
 ** against Lord Shelburne, this Writer thinks 
 " himself at Liberty to impute to him, with- 
 " out Proof, a particular Crime of the basest 
 " Character. They, in all the Intemperance 
 " of Invective which the Heat of Debate 
 " may excuse, abstained from any Allusion 
 " to a specific Accusation. The natural 
 " Inference is, that even in that heated and 
 " disturbed State of Mind, they disbelieved 
 " all such Accusations." 
 
 Who would not suppose, on reading Ihis 
 Defence, that Fox's, Burke's, and Lee's 
 Speeches in the House of Commons, above 
 alluded to, were made subsequent to the Im- 
 putations thrown on Lord Shelburne? No 
 doubt, the Reviewers so thought, by pro- 
 ducing them on the present Occasion, as 
 negative Attestations in Favor of that No- 
 bleman. And what will the World think of
 
 20 
 
 these ignorant Advocates, when the Truth 
 is, that the three violent Harangues in 
 Question, were all pronounced between the 
 6th, and the l\th of July, 1782; whereas 
 the pretended Purchases in the Funds, 
 were not, and could not have been made 
 before November, or December, 1782, or 
 January, 1783 r previous to the Conclusion 
 of Peace? So that Lord Shelburne's Inno- 
 cence is to result from the Silence of his 
 Enemies respecting a Fact, which could riot 
 have been even contemplated by him, or by 
 them, till several Months after the Speeches 
 were delivered. 
 
 " O Medici, mediam pertundite Venam!" 
 
 Unfortunate Lord Shelburne, to have met 
 with such Defenders ! All the Abuse which 
 they heap on me, is Kindness, compared 
 with such Exculpation. Pope somewhere 
 exclaims, 
 
 " Bless'd be the Gods for what they took away, 
 And what they left me !" 
 
 I have only to hope from Providence, that 
 whoever are my Friends, the Edinburgh Re- 
 viewers may always remain my Enemies.
 
 21 
 
 I come now to the " five Russian Mur- 
 " ders ;" an Article of Accusation against me 
 so prominent and so laboured in their first 
 Criticism on my Memoirs, on which the 
 present Article exhibits a new Proof of 
 shameless Tergiversation. I will cite their 
 own Words, which must constitute the most 
 severe Chastisement, to Men not lost to the 
 Value of Character. Last August, after 
 enumerating " the Deaths of the Emperor 
 " Peter, of Prince Ivan, of the supposed 
 " Princess Tarrakanoff, of the Grand Du- 
 " chess the first Wife of Paul, and that of 
 " the Princess of Wirtemberg ;" they add, 
 " Such a Series of Murders, including that 
 " of a Husband, of a Boy, (which Boy was 
 " twenty-four Years old,) and of three yoimg 
 " Women, one of whom was a Daughter in 
 " Law, has not been charged on any Indi- 
 " vidual, at least in the modern History of 
 " Europe." And now, what is their Lan- 
 guage ? " We were far from blaming him 
 
 "for having, in common with Europe, attH- 
 " buted to that Princess, a Participation in 
 " the Murders of her Husband, of Ivan, and 
 " of the supposed Princess Tarrakanojff." 
 By what Logic will the Reviewers recon- 
 cile these Contradictions ?
 
 Relative to the Death of the Grand Du- 
 chess, and that of the Princess of Wirtem- 
 berg, I have not a Word to alter in my 
 Account of those Events : but, when the 
 Reviewers add, " Count Woronzow offered, 
 " as we read in the Newspapers, to desist 
 " from the Prosecution against our Author, 
 " if the latter would name the Agent of the 
 " Court of Wirtemberg," I must flatly con- 
 tradict this supposed Fact, as wholly des- 
 titute of Truth, or of any Foundation. I 
 have not the least Reluctance or Hesitation 
 to repeat, as I now do for the third Time in 
 Print, that I regret having very inadvertently 
 mentioned Count Woronzow's Name, in a 
 Manner painful or injurious to his Feelings. 
 But, the Duke de Sorrentino, of whom Lord 
 Blaney expressed himself in the most severe 
 Terms, was contented to receive an Apology 
 from him, only a few Weeks ago, in the 
 Court of King's Bench, upon Lord Blaney's 
 expressing his Concern and Sorrow for the 
 Oflence. 
 
 I have still to notice one more gross Devi- 
 ation from Fact on the part of the Re- 
 viewers: a Deviation which must have 
 been intentional, unless they never read my
 
 23 
 
 " Answer" to their Calumnies, which they 
 so severely criticize. They asserted in their 
 first Review of my Work, that " not a single 
 " Anecdote contained in it, could be be- 
 " lieved on my Testimony." When I cited 
 various specific Facts, and called on them to 
 contradict me if they dared ; what is their 
 Reply ? " We only said that we thought it 
 " safest to believe nothing, merely because he 
 " says it. And in this he evidently concurs : 
 " for, he in this very Place enumerates the 
 "few trust-worthy Passages of his Book, 
 " which are all attested by other Witnesses, 
 " and may therefore undoubtedly be believed, 
 " notwithstanding the negative Power of his 
 " Testimony." But, besides the particular 
 Circumstances to which I referred, I added, 
 "" Which of the numerous Particulars re- 
 " counted of George the Third, of Lord 
 " North, or of Mr. Pitt, do they presume 
 " to deny ?" Here was a sweeping Challenge 
 thrown out to the Reviewers, comprehending 
 probably fourscore or more Anecdotes, scat- 
 tered through the two Volumes, not attested 
 by other Witnesses. Really, the " idle Ad- 
 " vocate" and his Associates, must either 
 hold the Understanding of their Readers in 
 great Contempt, or can set little Value on
 
 24 
 
 the Opinions of Mankind, when they thus 
 wantonly sacrifice Truth, Impartiality, and 
 every Quality that can render them estima- 
 ble as Men and as Reviewers, to the Gratifi- 
 cation of unworthy Feelings. Their Conduct 
 will carry with it, its own Punishment. 
 
 
 It cannot be expected that I should attempt 
 to answer the vulgar Reflections which they 
 make on the Sale of my Work, when in one 
 Place they say, " It is no sort of Wonder 
 " that with such Allurements, his Sale should 
 " have rivalled that of the Jockey Club, or 
 " the Crimes of Cabinets :" while elsewhere 
 they observe, alluding to the Number sold, 
 " In almost any former Period, St. Giles's 
 " would have polled more than two Thou- 
 " sand." They conclude with an Epigram ; 
 which, though ascribed to a " young Gen- 
 " tleman of Oxford," smells strongly of the 
 North Loch. I have only one Remark to 
 make upon it, namely, that as it accuses me 
 of misdating Facts, I will venture to defy 
 both Oxford and Edinburgh^ though both are 
 Seats of Learning, to point out four Errors 
 of that Nature in my two Volumes, which 
 contain twelve Hundred Pages. Now here 
 I have afforded Subject at once of Occupa-
 
 25 
 
 tion and of Triumph to the Reviewers, if they 
 mean or dare to abide by their own Accusa- 
 tion. If they are silent, let them look to it. 
 Guilt and Shame find their only Refuge in 
 Silence. 
 
 I have now answered every Charge made 
 against me, without omitting, as far as f 
 am able, even the slightest Insinuation con- 
 tained in the " Edinburgh Review." Those 
 worthy Gentlemen, towards the Conclusion, 
 say, " We hope not again to be obliged to 
 " notice this Writer. But we shall think 
 " Ourselves bound to watch him." As I have 
 in this Answer, given them some Subject on 
 which to exercise their wholesome Vigilance; 
 after such a Promise made to the Public, 
 there can be no doubt of our hearing again 
 soon from them. Besides, since the eigh- 
 teenth of June last, that day of Humiliation 
 and Dismay to all worthy Jacobins, the 
 Edinburgh Reviewers have probably more 
 Leisure, and less Occupation for their pre- 
 cious Time. I have been assured from re- 
 spectable Authority, that the Number of their 
 loyal Revietv, in which they did me the Ho- 
 nor first to notice and to criticize my " Me- 
 " moirs," was considerably delayed on Ac- 
 count of the Propriety and Necessity of can-
 
 26 
 
 celling and finally suppressing, a long elabo- 
 rate Article written in Favour of the Corsico- 
 Imperial Dynasty, which the unfortunate 
 Battle of Waterloo ruined for ever. In the 
 preceding Number, they had displayed their 
 indecent Joy and, ridiculous Logic, in Fa- 
 vour of the Ephemeral Success of the Cor- 
 sican; thus judiciously preparing the public 
 Mind, as they hoped, for his permanent Re- 
 sumption of Power. But, as that " Blessing 
 " of a better Time," that " Auspicium meli- 
 " oris JEm? to the unspeakable Regret of 
 all his faithful Followers on both Sides of 
 the Tweed, is now removed to a Rock in the 
 other Hemisphere ; and as his Memoirs, 
 which, we are told, he is composing, cannot 
 be yet ready for the Revision of his literary 
 Friends ; I trust, the Scottish Reviewers will 
 lower themselves to my Level. If they do 
 not, they will fall in the public Estimation, 
 even below the Level of the Writers of the 
 " Quarterly Review," who never threatened to 
 watch me. With the Expression of this Sen- 
 timent, and expecting to see it accomplished 
 by the Time 1 reach London, a few Weeks 
 hence, I take my Leave for the present, of 
 the Edinburgh Reviewers. 
 
 N. WILL M - WRAXALL.
 
 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 MY OWN TIME 
 
 PART THE FIRST. 
 
 T TAVING long meditated to compose 
 *- * some account of the national Events 
 which I have witnessed during a part of my 
 life, I have postponed the publication of the 
 work, till nearly all those persons of whom 
 I must have occasion to speak, were removed 
 from the scene. In fact, with the excep- 
 tion of a very small number of individuals, 
 respecting whom I have been silent ; scarcely 
 any of the leading Characters now survive, 
 who supported or opposed Lord North, the 
 Marquis of Rockingham, the Earl of Shel- 
 burne, or the Coalition Administration. The 
 lapse of more than thirty years, has removed 
 every objection of that nature; and the 
 respect that 1 owe to myself, has impelled 
 VOL. i. B
 
 2 HISTORICAL 
 
 me to dismiss from my mind, before I un- 
 dertook these Memoirs, every species of bias 
 or partiality. Not that in point of fact, it is 
 possible to speak of recent or contemporary 
 Events, as we would write of transactions that 
 took place under Henry the Eighth \ nor to 
 contemplate Fox and Pitt with the degree 
 of abstraction and composure, that we regard 
 Marius and Sylla. Such philosophic supe- 
 riority to passion, whatever pretensions to it 
 may be set up, is not given to man. 
 
 Tacitus, who wrote of events recently per- 
 formed, andwho intended, as he himself assures 
 us, if he should attain to old age, to compose 
 the history of his own Times ; says, " Digni- 
 " tatem nostram a Vespasiano inchoatam, 
 " a Tito auctam, a Domitiano Jongius pro- 
 " vectam, nunquam abnuerim: sed incorrup- 
 " tarn fidem professis, nee amore quisquam, 
 " et sine odio dicendus est." If I might be 
 allowed to parody the words of that Historian, 
 applying them to myself, I should say, " That 
 " I consider George the Third, notwithstand- 
 " ing the many errors of his government, 
 " which were most conspicuous in the begin- 
 " ning of his reign, as one of the best Princes 
 " who ever governed this Country, I readily
 
 MEMOIRS. 3 
 
 " confess : neither will I deny that I cannot 
 " recall the idea of Lord North, unconnected 
 " with those engaging or elevated qualities 
 " of mind and of deportment, which conci- 
 " Hated the affection even of his opponents. 
 " Lastly, that Lord Sackville honoured me 
 " with his friendship, and shewed me marks 
 " of confidence, I avow with pride and satis- 
 " faction. But, none of these circumstances 
 <c would induce me to conceal or to mis- 
 " represent any fact, for the purpose of 
 " drawing a veil over their errors or poli- 
 " tical transgressions." I may further add, 
 that never having held any Employment, 
 under any Minister, at any period of my 
 life, I neither can be accused of divulging 
 official secrets; nor am I linked, in how- 
 ever humble a degree, with any of those 
 Ephemeral Administrations, which took place 
 with such rapidity between 1782 and 1784. 
 1 relate the events that 1 either witnessed, 
 or of which I received the accounts from re- 
 spectable testimony. How imperfect a light, 
 these sources of information enable me to 
 throw on the Period of Time that I attempt 
 to elucidate, I am fully aware : but, unfortu- 
 nately, those individuals who, from their rank 
 B 2
 
 4 HISTORICAL 
 
 and situation, know most of the secrets of 
 affairs, will generally divulge least; and even 
 imperfect light is preferable to darkness. 
 -biKp ifoulv/ jtiBffrtioipl* 'io i;f: r : bnifii ^o * : 
 I cannot indeed boast of having enjoyed 
 the same advantage as Dr. .Burnet, Bishop 
 of Salisbury, who, in the ' History of his 
 " own Time," says, "I have had the honour 
 " to be admitted to much free conversation 
 " with five of our Sovereigns, King Charles 
 " the Second, King James the Second, King 
 ." William the Third, Queen Mary, and 
 "Queen Anne." But, between 1780 and 
 1794, during all which period 1 sat in Par- 
 liament, I possessed many means and oppor- 
 tunities of knowing various facts, from high 
 authority ; and, in some instances, of ascer- 
 taining their secret causes or springs. Lord 
 Clarendon and Burnet are almost the only 
 persons of eminence among us, who have 
 commemorated with ability, and at consider- 
 able length, the events of their own Time. 
 We cannot sufficiently regret that Prior did 
 not live to accomplish the same task. That 
 he meditated and intended it, is evident from 
 the words of his Epitaph in Westminster 
 Abbey:
 
 MEMOIRS. 5 
 
 *' Sui Temporis Historiam meditanti, 
 
 Paulatim obrepens Febris 
 Operis simul et Vitae, Filum abrupit. 
 
 Sep. 18. An. Dora. 1721." 
 
 ..'.:'$. 
 
 The work which was actually published un- 
 der that name in 1740, contained only some 
 of the materials collected for it. If we con- 
 sider the official or diplomatic situations that 
 Prior occupied from 1690 down to 1714; 
 and the intimate friendship in which he lived 
 with Charles, Earl of Dorset, the Lord Trea- 
 surer Harley, and Lord Bolingbroke ; we 
 must admit that few men could have been 
 more competent to elucidate the Reigns of 
 William the Third, and of Anne. 
 
 How much have we to lament that the 
 late Mr. Fox, during his long exclusion from 
 public Employment, between 1790 and 1805, 
 while in retirement at St. Anne's Hill, did not 
 occupy himself in composing the History of 
 his own Time ! Aspiring, as he did, not only 
 to the Fame of aStatesman and an Orator, but 
 to the praise of an Historian ; how infinitely 
 more valuable a legacy might he have be- 
 queathed to his Countrymen, how much more 
 durable a Monument might he have erected
 
 6 HISTORICAL 
 
 to himself, by such an exertion of his talents, 
 than he has done by exhausting his efforts 
 on the Reign of James the Second ! Not 
 that I would be understood to express any 
 sentiment allied to disrespect, relative to the 
 work which Lord Holland, with pious ve- 
 neration for his Uncle's memory, has given 
 to the world. Every page of that short and 
 unfinished production, is worthy of its author, 
 and raises him in my estimation. The " lit? 
 " troductory Chapter" can hardly be exceed- 
 ed for profound reflexion, elucidated by a 
 severe and philosophic cast of thought, as 
 well as by the most accurate and laborious 
 disquisition of facts. Impartial, ardent for 
 freedom, and indignant against Tyrants, the 
 writer is nevertheless exempt from the spirit 
 of Republicanism. The small portion of 
 James's reign which follows, including Ar- 
 gyle's and Monmouth's Invasions, may in a 
 great measure be characterized by similar 
 Epithets ; and excites regret, from presenting 
 only a Fragment. But if, instead of collating 
 Rapin, Hume, and Burnet; or employing his* 
 time on the inspection of Documents in the 
 Dep6t des Archives at Paris ; he had dedi- 
 cated it to a delineation, however simple, of 
 the great political Scenes in which he had
 
 MEMOIRS. 7 
 
 acted so distinguished a part ; with what avi- 
 dity should we not have perused the work ! 
 We might then have beheld as in a mirror, 
 the Secret History of the Rockingham, and 
 the Coalition Administrations, drawn by a 
 master hand, which had propelled the osten- 
 sible Ministers of the two periods. It was 
 thus that Clarendon beguiled the hours of 
 unmerited Disgrace and Exile, when he wrote 
 his " History of the great Rebellion." The 
 Cardinal de Retz, a man to whom Mr. Fox 
 bore some Analogy in certain features of his 
 political life, of his Character, and Fortune; 
 made the best atonement to his Country, and 
 to Posterity, for the irregularities and agita- 
 tions which marked the Zenith of his Career, 
 by tracing with his own hand, in his decline, 
 the outline of those Transactions which he 
 had guided or produced. We forget his de- 
 viations from prudence, his faction, and his 
 Ambition, in the elegance of his Genius, and 
 the ingenuous disclosure of his errors. 
 
 Perhaps no portion of time in the course 
 of the two last Centuries, offers, proportion- 
 ably to its duration, so few of those interest- 
 ing Anecdotes where the Sovereign comes 
 personally forward to our inspection, as the
 
 8 HISTORICAL 
 
 reign of George the Third. The reason is 
 obvious, and arose out of the King's cha- 
 racter. Charles the Second, and Lewis the 
 Fourteenth, surrounded by Mistresses, and 
 all the dissipation of a Court, presented to 
 Burnet, to Grammont, or to Voltaire, per- 
 petual matter of entertaining recital. Even 
 George the First and Second offered some 
 resources of a similar nature, to Lord Mel- 
 comb, for his " Diary ;" and to Horace Wai- 
 pole, for his " Reminiscences." But, His 
 present Majesty's whole life, from the age 
 of twenty-two, down to the lamented period 
 at which he ceased to reign, was passed 
 either in the severe and exemplary discharge 
 of his public duties of every description ; or 
 in the bosom of his family, amidst domestic 
 sources of amusement. In his agricultural 
 occupations, or when engaged in the diver- 
 sions of the field, he was only seen by a few 
 Individuals who from their official situations 
 or dignity, had access to his person. No 
 splendid assemblies of both sexes, or festive 
 entertainments, to which Beauty, Rank, and 
 Pleasure in a comprehensive sense, must have 
 contributed ; by levelling him in some mea- 
 sure with his guests, presented him to view, 
 divested of the forms of Royalty. Unlike
 
 MEMOIRS. 9 
 
 his predecessor, who even at an advanced 
 age, still preserved a relish for those enjoy- 
 ments ; equally unlike his Son, the present 
 Regent, whose graceful Manners, dignified 
 Affability, and splendid Taste, have rendered 
 his Palace the Center of Pleasures ; George 
 the Third, while a young man, neither fre- 
 quented Masquerades, nor ever engaged at 
 Play, nor protracted the Hours of convivial 
 Enjoyment, nor passed his evenings in so- 
 ciety calculated to unbend his mind from 
 the fatigues of Business, and the vexations 
 of State. 
 
 All the splendor of a Court was laid aside, 
 or only exhibited for a few hours, on a Birth- 
 day. Rarely, during the first twenty years 
 after his Accession, did he join in any scene 
 of public amusement, if we except the 
 diversion of the Theatre. Still more rarely 
 did he sit down at table with any of his 
 Courtiers or Nobility. His repasts, private, 
 short, and temperate, never led to the slight- 
 est excess. Hence, his enemies endeavoured 
 to represent him, most unjustly, as affecting 
 the state of an Asiatic Prince ; scarcely ever 
 visible except on the Terrace at Windsor, or 
 in the Circle, at a Levee. " Junius," who
 
 JO HISTORICAL 
 
 saw him through the most unfavourable me- 
 dium, and who converted his very virtues, 
 into subjects of accusation, or of reproach ; 
 depictures St. James's as a Court, " where 
 " prayers are morality, and kneeling is reli- 
 " gion." It was not till a period later than 
 the point of time at which these Memoirs 
 stop, that the King began to mix in a select 
 Company, and occasionally to indulge in the 
 pleasures of Society. Previous to the year 
 1784, it is only in the foreign or domestic 
 transactions of his Reign, often only within 
 the walls of one, or of the other House of 
 Parliament, that the Materials can generally 
 be found for writing the internal History of 
 the Time. These Remarks, I am sensible, 
 apply principally, though not exclusively, 
 to the Portion of the present work where 
 the Scene lies wholly in England; whereas 
 the first Part traverses the Continent, through 
 different Countries, from Portugal, round to 
 Naples and Tuscany. 
 
 Soon after I had compleated my twenty- 
 first year, in 1772, i went by Sea over to 
 Portugal ; in the Capital of which Kingdom, 
 or in its vicinity, I staid a considerable time. 
 Joseph, son and successor of John the Fifth,
 
 MEMOIRS. 11 
 
 then occupied the Throne; but the Kingdom 
 was governed by the celebrated Count d'CEy- 
 ras, who had been recently created Marquis 
 de Pombal. Few First Ministers, during 
 the course of the last Century, displayed 
 greater talents for administration, or exer- 
 cised more unlimited authority. The King, 
 though only third in order of descent, was 
 fourth in succession from the Duke of Bra- 
 ganza, denominated John the Fourth, who 
 in 1640 recovered Portugal from the Spa- 
 nish dominion; and at the time of which I 
 speak, he had passed his fifty-seventh year. 
 He was of a good stature, but inclined to 
 corpulency: his features regular, his eye 
 quick and lively, if a habit of holding his 
 mouth somewhat open, had not diminished 
 the expression of intelligence, which his 
 countenance would otherwise have conveyed. 
 In his cheeks he had a high scorbutic hu- 
 mour, attributed commonly to excesses of 
 Wine; though it might partly arise from vio- 
 lent exercise constantly taken under a burn- 
 ing Sun. His face, indeed, was nearly as 
 dusky as that of a Moor ; and at Fez or 
 Mequinez, habited in the Turkish Dress, 
 with a Turban on his head, he might easily 
 have passed for Muley Ismael, the Sovereign 
 of Morocco. Never had any Lusitanian
 
 12 HISTORICAL 
 
 Peasant, coarser and darker Hands. One 
 could not look at him, without recollecting 
 how near are the Shores, and how similar 
 are the Climates, of Portugal, and of Africa. 
 
 Two passions or pursuits, Hunting and 
 Music, principally occupied his time, ab- 
 sorbed his thoughts, and divided his affec- 
 tions: nor was it easy to decide which of 
 them possessed the strongest ascendant over 
 him. In the former diversion he passed the 
 far greater part of the day : to the latter 
 amusement his evenings were principally or 
 wholly dedicated, either in public, when at 
 the Opera; or in private, with his family. 
 No royal House in Europe was then so mu- 
 sical as that of Portugal. Joseph himself 
 performed with considerable execution, on 
 the Violin; and the three Princesses, his 
 Daughters, all were proficients in a greater, 
 or in a less degree, on different instruments. 
 If he was prevented by the weather from 
 going out to the Chace, the King had re- 
 course for occupation, to his Manege. On 
 Sundays, he seldom or never missed at- 
 tending the Italian Opera in Lisbon ; but 
 he likewise maintained another Opera at 
 Belem, his residence near the Capital. I 
 have been present at this latter perform-
 
 MEMOIRS. 13 
 
 ance, to which, only foreign Ministers, Offi- 
 cers, persons belonging to the Court, and 
 Foreigners of Condition, were admitted ; all 
 of them, gratuitously. The house itself 
 was of very contracted dimensions; the 
 Pit not being calculated to contain more 
 than about one hundred and thirty indivi- 
 duals. Boxes, indeed, in the proper accep- 
 tation of the term, there were none; the 
 King, Queen, and Royal Family, being 
 seated in a Gallery fronting the Stage, ele- 
 vated considerably above the body of the 
 House. One small Box was constructed on 
 each side; that on the right hand being ap- 
 propriated to the Patriarch, or Head of the 
 Portugueze Church, whom I have seen pre- 
 sent at the performance. The other usually 
 remained vacant, being reserved for any 
 Stranger of high rank who might visit Por- 
 tugal. 
 
 The circumstance which distinguished this 
 Entertainment from any other of the same 
 kind which I ever witnessed, and which 
 may appear so extraordinary as hardly to 
 obtain credit, consisted in the total exclusion 
 of Women, not only from the Pit, but from 
 the Stage ; either as Spectators, or as Ac-
 
 14 HISTORICAL 
 
 tresses. No female could obtain admission. 
 The reason commonly assigned by the Court, 
 for proscribing the whole Sex from any par- 
 ticipation in an Amusement, of which, in all 
 other European Countries, they constitute 
 the principal ornament and the soul ; was, 
 that there were no proper places for ladies. 
 But, it might have been answered, that 
 nothing could be easier than to construct 
 Side-Boxes for their reception. Even this rea- 
 son could not explain their exclusion from 
 the Stage, on which none except Italian 
 Castrati were ever admitted to sing, or to 
 perform any part. Battistini, who filled with 
 great distinction the first female Characters, 
 was selected and engaged, not only for his su- 
 perior vocal excellence, but for his feminine 
 appearance, and admirable resemblance to a 
 Woman, when he was dressed in female at- 
 tire. So complete indeed was the deception, 
 that I think it never would have occurred to 
 any uninformed person, to doubt for an in- 
 stant, of his being what he personated. Even 
 the Ballets were all performed by Men or 
 Boys, habited in the Costume of Nymphs, 
 Shepherdesses, and Goddesses. This exclu- 
 sion of all Females, except the Queen and 
 Princesses, rendered the Spectacle, though
 
 MEMOIRS. 15 
 
 otherwise magnificent in machinery and de- 
 corations, as well as scientific in point of 
 musical execution ; comparatively insipid, 
 dull, and destitute of interest or animation. 
 Incredible as it may seem, the passion of 
 Jealousy constituted the cause of so singular 
 a prohibition. The Queen of Portugal, 
 though at this time she was considerably 
 advanced towards her sixtieth year, yet 
 watched every motion of her Husband, with 
 all the vigilant anxiety of a young Woman. 
 And in order the better to secure his per- 
 sonal fidelity, she wisely took care to remove 
 from before his eyes, as much as possible, 
 every temptation to inconstancy. The ladies 
 in waiting, and Maids of Honour, who at- 
 tended Their Majesties in public, must cer- 
 tainly have been selected for their want of 
 all attractions ; and they were besides, too 
 far advanced in years, to be longer capable 
 of inspiring any sentiment except respect. 
 The Portugueze Females who accompanied 
 Catherine of Braganza in 1662, when she 
 came over to England, in order to espouse 
 Charles the Second ; whose total deficiency 
 in personal Charms, is so eloquently de- 
 scribed in the " Memoires de Grammont;" 
 could not possibly exceed in that particular,
 
 16 HISTORICAL 
 
 the Attendants on Marianna Victoria* wife 
 of Joseph the First. 
 
 Nor was her vigilance by any means con- 
 fined to the Opera. She displayed the same 
 apprehensions, and took similar precautions, 
 against any rival or intruder in the King's 
 affections, whenever he went out to the Chace. 
 Whether the diversion was hunting, or shoot- 
 ing, or falconing, she was constantly at his 
 side. No woman in Europe indeed rode 
 bolder, or with more skill. Her figure al- 
 most defied the powers of description, on 
 these occasions. She sat astride, as was the 
 universal custom in Portugal, and wore 
 English leather Breeches ; frequently black ; 
 over which she threw a petticoat which did 
 not always conceal her legs. A jacket of 
 cloth, or of stuff, and a cocked hat, some- 
 times laced, at other times without ornament, 
 compleated the masculine singularity of her 
 appearance. When, after having let loose 
 the Falcon, she followed him with her eye 
 in his flight, she always threw the reins on 
 her horse's neck ; allowing him to carry her 
 wherever he pleased, fearless of accidents. 
 She was admitted to be an excellent shot, 
 seldom missing the bird at which she fired,
 
 MEMOIRS. 17 
 
 feven when flying: but this Diversion had 
 nearly produced a most tragical result ; as, 
 a few years before I visited Portugal, she 
 very narrowly missed killing the King with 
 a ball, which actually grazed his temple. 
 Few princes in modern Times, have had 
 more hair-breadth escapes from danger or 
 assassination, than Joseph the First experi- 
 enced ; on which subject I shall have occa- 
 sion to say much, in the course of these 
 Observations. 
 
 In the year 1772, the Court of Lisbon 
 offered scarcely any sources of amusement 
 to a foreigner. Neither Levees, nor Drawing- 
 rooms were ever held, except on Birth- 
 days, and on a few particular festivals. The 
 King, Queen, his brother Don Pedro, his 
 three Daughters, and the young Prince of 
 Beyra, lived all under the same roof, and in- 
 habited a long wooden range of apartments 
 at Belem, lower down the Bank of the Tagus 
 than Lisbon. The terrors and recollection 
 of the Earthquake of 1755, were so deeply 
 impressed on their minds, that they preferred 
 residing in a wooden Building, however 
 mean in its Fabrication, or inconvenient, 
 rather than encounter the perils annexed to 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 18 HISTORICAL 
 
 a stone Edifice. Joseph had never slept 
 under a House, properly so denominated, 
 during near seventeen years. Wherever he 
 moved, either wooden Barracks or Tents, 
 were provided for his accommodation. I 
 have seen Tents pitched for his reception, in 
 the fields adjoining the Palace of Maffra, 
 while that immense and costly Edifice was to- 
 tally abandoned, neglected, and unfurnished. 
 These precautions, however singular, and al- 
 most pusillanimous, they may at first sight 
 seem, were nevertheless necessary in Por- 
 tugal. Experience had fully demonstrated, 
 that the most solid, massy, and well-con- 
 structed Buildings of Stone, only exposed 
 the inhabitant to greater, and more inevitable 
 destruction, in the event of an Earthquake ; 
 because the resistance made by such mate- 
 rials to the undulation or shock, produced 
 their overthrow. On the contrary, any 
 Structure composed of wood, supported, 
 like the Barracks inhabited by the Royal 
 Family, on pillars of the same materials; 
 yielding to the concussion of the Earth, rock- 
 ed and waved with the convulsion, thus 
 escaping its worst effects. 
 
 No splendor or exhibition of state was
 
 MEMOIRS. 19 
 
 maintained by the King of Portugal, who, 
 though he scarcely ever failed to attend, 
 with the Royal Family, every week, at the 
 Bull Feasts, and at the Italian Opera in 
 Lisbon, yet was always understood to be 
 present incognito. The only deviation from 
 this practice or Etiquette, took place when 
 the Court went annually, as was the invari- 
 able custom in time of Carnival, about the 
 middle of January, to the Palace of Salva 
 Tierra, situated several leagues higher up the 
 Tagus than the Metropolis. The King re- 
 mained there till the month of March, and 
 all the foreign Ministers usually attended 
 him. Hunting parties, to which strangers 
 of Condition were admitted, constituted the 
 occupation of the day ; followed in the even- 
 ing by an Opera, like that of Belem, open 
 gratuitously to all such persons as had been 
 presented to the Sovereign. I was assured 
 that Joseph expended no less a sum than 
 about forty thousand Pounds Sterling annu- 
 ally, on the diversion of the Opera. Yet he 
 was likewise fond of Play, and passed much 
 time at the Card table. Previous to the me* 
 morable Earthquake of 1755, he was consi- 
 dered as temperate, drinking usually water 
 at his meals : but, such was the effect pro- 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 duced on his mind, and so severe the dejec- 
 tion of spirits which he experienced, after 
 that awful visitation of Providence, that it 
 was apprehended, his Health would be seri- 
 ously affected by it. His physicians pre- 
 scribed the use of wine, as necessary to 
 restore his Constitution ; a prescription which 
 proved so agreeable to the patient, that it 
 was commonly believed, His Majesty in- 
 dulged himself too freely in its use. At an 
 earlier period of his life, he was supposed to 
 have been guilty of excesses of another kind, 
 and to have given the Queen, frequent occa- 
 sion for jealousy : nor had the partiality of 
 Joseph towards the Sex, by any means be- 
 come extinct with the decline of years. But 
 his attachments or amours, were always se- 
 cret, decorous, and conducted with a be- 
 coming regard to public opinion, as well as 
 with a due attention to his domestic and 
 conjugal felicity. No Mistress, like Madame 
 de Pompadour, or Madame du Barry in 
 France, under Louis the Fifteenth ; or Ma- 
 dame Chevalier at Petersburgh, under Paul 
 the First, dishonoured and disgraced the 
 Court of Portugal. 
 
 Joseph, considered in his kingly character
 
 MEMOIRS. 21 
 
 and capacity, though not to be ranked among 
 the first Princes in vigor and ability, who then 
 reigned in Europe, was not deficient in talents 
 or qualities befitting the Throne. If he felt 
 his own inability to govern, he demonstrated 
 no common discernment and force of mind, 
 in the selection of a Minister, to whom he 
 delegated that office. The Marquis de Pom- 
 bal exercised in fact, all the functions of the 
 Monarchy. He possessed nearly as unlimit- 
 ed an ascendant over his Master, as the Car- 
 dinal of Lerma did over Philip the Third, 
 or the Conde d'Olivarez over Philip the 
 Fourth, Kings of Spain ; and was accustom- 
 ed to transact public business with his So- 
 vereign, at hours and seasons usually de- 
 dicated to pleasure, or lost in sleep. The 
 King very frequently signed papers of the 
 greatest consequence after midnight, before 
 he retired to rest ; at which time the Marquis 
 commonly waited on him for the purpose. 
 The hereditary superstition which characte- 
 rized the house of Braganza, and in the 
 practice of which Joseph himself had been 
 educated ; which distinguished his father 
 John the Fifth, and which survived in the 
 present reigning Queen, till she became 
 alienated in mind ; by no means existed in
 
 22 HISTORICAL 
 
 him. The seizure and expulsion of the 
 Jesuits, a measure of great energy, and not 
 unaccompanied with danger ; sufficiently mar 
 nifested his superiority to the bigotted vener 
 ration felt for that order of men, among the 
 majority of his subjects. If he possessed, 
 himself, no taste for the fine arts, nor evinced 
 any passion for learning and polite letters, 
 he at least extended protection to their pro- 
 fessors. During the period of two and twenty 
 years that he had then reigned since the de- 
 cease of John the Fifth, a great mid salutary 
 change had taken place among the Portu- 
 gueze, in all the attainments of a civilized 
 people. Establishments for the education of 
 the young Nobility and Gentry, had been 
 founded, which would have done honor to 
 Great Britain ; and which, though originating 
 with the Minister, yet could only have been 
 fully accomplished by the consent of the 
 Sovereign. 
 
 These laudable acts of Government, were 
 nevertheless contrasted with corresponding 
 defects of Administration ; some of which 
 might be justly attributed to the Marquis de 
 Pombal, while others seemed personally to 
 reproach the King. The people universally
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 and loudly complained of oppression. In 
 the royal Household, mismanagement pre- 
 vailed to such a degree, that almost all the 
 domestic Servants and menial Attendants of 
 the Court, having been unpaid for several 
 years, were in the lowest stage of distress. 
 The reverse had been the case under his pre- 
 decessor John the Fifth. Joseph's revenues 
 were commonly supposed to amount to two 
 Millions Sterling, while the national expen- 
 diture did not usually exceed a moiety of 
 that sum. Yet the footmen who followed 
 the royal Carriages in public, were left almost 
 without the means of even procuring suste- 
 nance. I never saw the King and Queen 
 in any Carriage, except a sort of Caleche, or 
 Chaise, drawn by two Mules of no uncom- 
 mon Beauty. In this Equipage, which was 
 nothing less than royal, they always attended 
 the Bull Feasts. When Her Majesty accom- 
 panied the Princesses her daughters, to say 
 Mass, or to perform her devotions, at some 
 Church in the vicinity of Lisbon, she was 
 drawn in a Coach, with only a pair of horses 
 of a very inferior description, and such a set 
 of Harness as we should scarcely consider to 
 be good enough for aHackney-Coach. About 
 forty Horse-guards accompanied them, and
 
 24 HISTORICAL 
 
 they generally distributed some money to 
 the populace, or rather the beggars, who as- 
 sembled in groups at the door of the Church, 
 
 I went, one day, to look at the royal Car- 
 riages, kept at Alcantara, about a mile out 
 of Lisbon. There were at least thirty ; some 
 of which had cost, as the people assured me, 
 two hundred thousand Crusadoes, or twenty 
 thousand Pounds Sterling. They were very 
 magnificent, and had all been built either in 
 Rome, or at Paris. London had not then 
 begun to supply the Continent with that ar- 
 ticle of luxury. Among the royal Carriages, 
 I was struck with the Coach in which John 
 the Fourth made his public entry into the 
 Capital, after recovering Portugal from the 
 Spaniards. It nearly realized the descriptions 
 given us of those vehicles, soon after their 
 first appearance or invention in the sixteenth 
 Century. The Carriage in question, which 
 had been constructed in 1641, was conse- 
 quently above a hundred and thirty years 
 old, at the time when I saw it ; and might 
 more properly be denominated a Chamber on 
 wheels, than a Coach in the modern accep- 
 tation of the term, as it was capable of con- 
 taining ten or twelve persons with the utmost
 
 MEMOIRS. 25 
 
 convenience. The sides were open ; the win- 
 dows resembling the lattices of our farm- 
 houses, divided into small panes, with case- 
 ments for the admission of air. It was pre- 
 served with pious veneration, as a monument 
 of the Emancipation of the Kingdom by the 
 first Prince of the House of Braganza. Henry 
 the Fourth was seated in just such another 
 Coach, when he was stabbed by Ravaillac, 
 in the year 1610, in the Rue de la Ferro- 
 nerie, at Paris. 
 
 Joseph the First had twice escaped from a 
 similar fate to that of Henry : the first time, 
 in 1758; and the last, only two years before 
 I visited Lisbon. The former attempt, which 
 occupies a memorable place among the tra- 
 gical events of the Eighteenth Century, may 
 rank with Damien's attempt on Louis the 
 Fifteenth's life, in ] 755 ; and with the attack 
 made in 1771, on Stanislaus, King of Poland. 
 I allude to the conspiracy of the Duke 
 d'Aveiro, and the Marquis de Tavora, in 
 1758; all the leading particulars of which, I 
 have often heard recounted by contemporary 
 witnesses. The Duke d'Aveiro, whose fa- 
 mily name was Mascarenhas, descended from 
 Don George, a natural son of John the Se-
 
 26 HISTORICAL 
 
 cond, King of Portugal, one of the most 
 illustrious Princes who has reigned in mo- 
 dern ages ; the contemporary of our Henry 
 the Seventh ; and to whose exertions we owe 
 in an eminent degree, the discovery of a 
 passage to India, round the Cape of Good 
 Hope. D'Aveiro's talents appear to have 
 been very moderate, and his courage very 
 equivocal : but, his temper, ferocious, as well 
 as vindictive, rendered him capable of em- 
 bracing the most flagitious measures for the 
 gratification of his revenge. The King of 
 Portugal's escape, which was altogether for- 
 tuitous, resulted from the coolness or pre- 
 sence of mind, manifested by the Coachman 
 who drove the royal Carriage. For, this 
 man, finding that several shots or balls had 
 passed through it behind, and not doubting 
 that Joseph was wounded ; instead of pro- 
 ceeding forward, immediately turned round 
 his Mules, and took the road that led to the 
 house of the King's Surgeon. By this sud- 
 den and unexpected Manoeuvre, Joseph 
 avoided falling into the hands of four other 
 armed parties of Conspirators, who were 
 posted at different places, where it was knowji 
 he must pass in his way to the Palace.
 
 MEMOIRS. 27 
 
 A woman, the old Marchioness of Tavora, 
 formed the soul of this sanguinary enterprize, 
 which conducted the principal persons en- 
 gaged in it, to a cruel and ignominious death. 
 Revenge, heightened by personal enmity to- 
 wards the King and the first Minister, who 
 had refused to raise the Marquis of Tavora, 
 to the dignity of a Duke; rather than any 
 well ascertained intention, or expectation of 
 subverting the Government, and dethroning 
 the Braganza Family; seem to have stimu- 
 lated the Conspirators to so atrocious an un- 
 dertaking. Precisely similar motives impel- 
 led the late Duke of Orleans to produce 
 those commotions, which eventually over- 
 turned the French Throne, and led to the 
 horrors of the Revolution. It was not in the 
 first Instance, Ambition, or the hope of reign- 
 ing, so much as personal hatred and revenge. 
 The late Duke of Dorset, who, from the situa- 
 tion that he occupied during several years, as 
 Embassador to the Court of Versailles, had 
 opportunities of obtaining the most authentic 
 information, has many times assured me of 
 this fact. He knew it from Marie Antoinette 
 herself. She constituted the principal object 
 of the Duke of Orleans's detestation, whose 
 malignity was not so much levelled against
 
 28 HISTORICAL 
 
 Louis the Sixteenth, as against the Queen. 
 That Princess had given him many causes 
 of aversion; one of which consisted in en- 
 deavouring successfully to prevent the mar- 
 riage of his Daughter, Mademoiselle d'Or- 
 leans, with the Duke d'Angouleme. Marie 
 Antoinette naturally wished to unite her 
 own Daughter in marriage with the young 
 Prince, as she thereby secured to her the 
 succession to the throne of France, in case 
 Louis the Sixteenth should not leave be- 
 hind him any son. The Duke of Dorset 
 told me, that, as early as 1786, or 1787, the 
 Queen has said to him, on her seeing the 
 Duke of Orleans at Versailles ; " Monsieur 
 " le Due, regardez cette hornme la. II me 
 " deteste, et il a jure ma perte. Je la vois 
 " dans ses yeux, toutes les fois qu'il me fixe. 
 " II ne sera jamais content, jusqu'a ce qu'ii 
 " me voit etendue morte a ses pieds." He 
 lived in fact to witness her tragical end, but 
 he survived her only a very short time. 
 I return from this Digression, to the Por- 
 tugueze Conspirators. They executed their 
 attempt, like men destitute of courage : for, 
 if the first Band, who intercepted the King 
 on his Return from Belem, had fired into 
 the Carriage as he advanced, instead of wait-
 
 MEMOIRS. 29 
 
 ing, as they did, till he had passed, before 
 they discharged their pieces, he must have 
 fallen. The Ball with which he was wounded, 
 passed between his side and his arm, tearing 
 the flesh of both, but without inflicting any 
 severe wound. 
 
 The consternation excited by the attempt, 
 was augmented by the obscurity in which it 
 was studiously enveloped ; the Court remain- 
 ing for some weeks, in total ignorance of the 
 authors of the Conspiracy ; as the Conspira- 
 tors did, on the other hand, in equal un- 
 certainty respecting the nature and conse- 
 quences of the King's wounds. It is a fact, 
 that the Duke d'Aveiro and the Marquis of 
 Tavora repaired almost daily to the King's 
 Apartment, to make their inquiries in person 
 after his health ; expressing the utmost ab- 
 horrence of the Treason. They were even 
 admitted to his presence ; but, in a Chamber 
 intentionally kept so dark, as to render it 
 impossible for them to ascertain the probabi- 
 lity of his recovery. Meanwhile, the vigi- 
 lance of the Marquis de Pombal, aided, as 
 is said, by some imprudent expressions of 
 the Duke d'Aveiro, enabled the Minister to 
 trace, and to ascertain, the guilt of the Con-
 
 30 HISTORICAL 
 
 spirators. They were then arrested, and 
 brought to trial. The Duke d'Aveiro, the 
 Marquis of Tavora, and his two sons, were 
 broken on the Wheel ; while the old Mar- 
 chioness, who, in consideration of her sex, was 
 sentenced to be beheaded, ascended the Scaf- 
 fold with a firm step, betrayed neither fear 
 nor contrition, and laid down her head on the 
 Block, as she would have done on a pillow. 
 
 Haughty and imperious in her character, 
 she was restrained by no considerations of 
 pity or of humanity, when her vengeance, 
 her Ambition, or her interest, impelled her. 
 The meetings of the Conspirators were fre- 
 quently held in a summer house, situate in the 
 Garden of the Marquis of Tavora's Palace 
 at Lisbon, with which it was connected by 
 a long wooden Gallery. It happened that a 
 young Portugueze lady, of noble extraction, 
 but of reduced circumstances, who lived in 
 the Marchioness's family, as her companion; 
 surprized at observing lights, one evening, in 
 this summer house, and altogether without 
 suspicion of the cause ; was attracted by 
 curiosity to approach the place. As she ad- 
 vanced along the Gallery that led to it, she 
 heard voices in earnest Conversation; and
 
 MEMOIRS. 31 
 
 611 coming nearer, soon distinguished that of 
 the Marchioness, who seemed to be animated 
 by some cause, to a pitch of uncommon vio- 
 lence. She listened for a few seconds ; and 
 then, apprehensive of being discovered in 
 such a situation, she was about to return 
 from whence she came, when the door sud- 
 denly opening, the Marchioness herself ap- 
 peared. Their surprize was mutual; and 
 the latter demanded, with much agitation, 
 what cause had brought her to that place? 
 She answered, that her astonishment at ob- 
 serving lights in the summer house, had led 
 her to ascertain the reason. " You have 
 then, no doubt," said the Marchioness, 
 " overheard our conversation ?" The young 
 lady protested that she was perfectly igno- 
 rant of any part of it ; and that as soon as 
 she distinguished the Marchioness's voice, 
 her respect led her to return to the Palace, 
 which she was about to do, at the moment 
 when the door opened. But, the Marchio- 
 ness, who had too much at stake to be so 
 easily satisfied or deceived, assuming a tran- 
 quil air, and affecting to repose a confidence 
 in her, " The Marquis and I," rejoined she, 
 " have had a serious and a violent quarrel, 
 " during the course of which, he had the
 
 32 HISTORICAL 
 
 " rudeness to contradict me in the most in- 
 " suiting manner ; and he even carried his 
 " audacity to such a point, as to give me the 
 " lie. I burst out of the room, unable to 
 " restrain my indignation, and no longer 
 " mistress of my emotions. Did you not 
 " hear him give me the lie at the time I 
 " opened the door ?" " I did, Madam," im- 
 prudently replied the unfortunate lady. 
 Aware from that instant, that the nature of 
 their meeting, and of the subjects agitated at 
 it, was now in some measure discovered, she 
 instantly determined to prevent the possibility 
 of its being further divulged. Next Morning, 
 the Body of the unhappy listener was found 
 in one of the Streets of Lisbon, wrapt in a 
 Sheet, scarcely cold, and the Blood still 
 oozing from various wounds inflicted on her 
 with a Dagger. It was universally believed 
 at the time, that she had been put to death 
 by secret directions, issued from the Palace 
 of Tavora : but, the power of that great 
 Family, and the frequency of similar specta- 
 cles in the Portugueze Capital, silenced all 
 judicial inquiry into the causes of her tra- 
 gical end. The Marchioness expiated her 
 crime on the Scaffold. Her Daughter-in-law, 
 the young Marchioness of Tavora, alone, who
 
 MEMOIRS. 33 
 
 was Daughter to the Duke d'Aveiro; exempt- 
 ed from the general destruction of her Family, 
 either on account of her presumed innocence, 
 or, as was pretended by others, from motives 
 of private partiality on the part of the King, 
 was immured in a Convent. She was, I 
 believe, still living in 1772, under Confine- 
 ment. 
 
 The second attempt made on Joseph's life, 
 arose from the irritated feelings of a poor 
 Portugueze Peasant. This man, driven to 
 despair by the conduct of the King's Domes- 
 tic Servants, who had forcibly seized on his 
 Carts and Cattle ; rushed furiously on His Ma- 
 jesty, as he was going out to hunt, and aimed 
 a blow with a long pole at his head, which 
 narrowly missed him. It happened at the Pa- 
 lace of Villa Viciosa, the ancient patrimonial 
 residence of the Dukes of Braganza, where 
 the King used sometimes to repair, for a short 
 time. The Peasant was not executed, but still 
 remained, as common rumor asserted, in a 
 Dungeon at Belem, when I was in Portugal. 
 Two such attacks, though of very opposite 
 kinds, yet had rendered Joseph timid, and in- 
 duced him to take many precautions for his 
 preservation against similar efforts of private 
 VOL. i. D
 
 34 HISTORICAL 
 
 vengeance, or of Treason. Even at the Italian 
 Opera in Lisbon, which he scarcely ever failed 
 to attend, yet when he went, as was his cus- 
 tom, between the Acts, from the royal Box in 
 front of the stage, to a Side-Box, from which 
 he viewed the Ballets; he always passed 
 through a close passage well secured, con- 
 structed on purpose, with a view to protect 
 his person from any act of violence. 
 
 Marianna Victoria, Queen of Portugal, and 
 wife of Joseph, was a daughter of Philip the 
 Fifth, King of Spain, by Elizabeth Farnese, 
 his second wife, Heiress of that celebrated 
 Family, and herself a woman of no ordinary 
 talents. The Princess in question had been, 
 as is well known, betrothed, when a child, to 
 Louis the Fifteenth ; was sent to France, and 
 resided in that country during several years : 
 but, on the death of the Regent Duke of Or- 
 leans, in December, 1723, when the Govern- 
 ment fell into the hands of the Duke de 
 Bourbon ; one of the earliest acts of his Ad- 
 ministration, was to dissolve the unfinished 
 Marriage, and to send the Princess back to 
 Madrid. In the year 1729, when she was 
 not more than eleven, she was carried by her 
 father, Philip, to Badajoz, and there married
 
 MEMOIRS. 35 
 
 to Joseph, then hereditary Prince of Portugal, 
 who, himself, had not attained his fourteenth 
 year. The Nuptials were immediately so- 
 lemnized ; the Bride and Bridegroom being 
 put into the same Bed together, in presence 
 of the great Officers of the Court; but, it was 
 near six years afterwards, in December, 1 734, 
 before she brought into the world a Daughter, 
 the present Queen. 
 
 Marian n a Victoria was said to have been 
 very agreeable in her person, when young; 
 but in 1772, no traces remained of that Beau- 
 ty. Her figure was short and thick, her face 
 red; her nose large, and her manner desti- 
 tute of softness or elegance. There was, in- 
 deed, nothing feminine in her appearance or 
 demeanour. Nevertheless, her Eyes, which 
 were dark, lively, and piercing, retained their 
 original lustre. She wore a profusion of 
 Rouge ; her neck and shoulders, whether at 
 Church, at the Opera, or at a Bull Feast, 
 being always bare; and she seemed to be 
 not only in possession of health, but capable 
 of supporting the roughest exercise, or most 
 severe fatigue. Her arms were brown and 
 sun-burnt, from her perpetually following 
 the chace. Those persons who knew Her
 
 36 HISTORICAL 
 
 Majesty well, always assured me that she 
 neither wanted spirit, nor ability; though she 
 never attempted to possess power, nor had 
 ever attained any political influence. All 
 her anxiety seemed to be confined to the 
 person of her royal partner, and did not ex- 
 tend to the guidance of state affairs. If any 
 opinion might be formed of her Religion, from 
 her behaviour at Mass, she was assuredly 
 no Bigot. I was accustomed to frequent, 
 from motives of curiosity, the Church of the 
 Necessidadas, and that of St. Francisco da 
 Paola, where she constantly attended, with 
 the Princesses, her Daughters; and I may 
 truly assert, that I never saw any woman 
 who manifested so little attention while at 
 her Devotions. 
 
 Of a widely different character from her 
 Mother in that respect, was the Princess of 
 Brazil, Maria, eldest of the three daughters 
 of Joseph, and presumptive Heiress to the 
 Crown of Portugal. In her, a gloomy and 
 severe spirit of Superstition, formed the pre- 
 dominant feature. Her mind was said to be 
 deeply impressed with the tragical Catas- 
 trophe of the Duke d'Aveiro and his asso- 
 ciates, whose fate she was believed to lament,
 
 MEMOIRS. 37 
 
 as having been unmerited or unjust. To 
 her reflections upon those terrible Execu- 
 tions, heightened by the remonstrances or 
 reproaches of her Confessor, has been indeed 
 generally attributed the subsequent aliena- 
 tion of her understanding. Jn her person, 
 she was taller than either of her Sisters, as 
 well as thinner; of a pale and wan Com- 
 plexion, that seemed to indicate Melancholy ; 
 her features, prominent, strong, and altoge- 
 ther destitute of any attractions. In all the 
 duties and departments of private life, she 
 was exemplary. Married to her Uncle, only 
 Brother to the King, they exhibited a model 
 of nuptial felicity. The union, however re- 
 pugnant to our modes of thinking, and in 
 some measure contrary to Nature, yet had 
 been fruitful : they had then two sons and a 
 daughter living. The desire of preventing 
 any possibility of a disputed Succession, be- 
 tween the collateral male Heir to the Throne, 
 and the female in direct Descent, dictated 
 this species of incestuous Marriage; which, 
 whatever sanction it may derive from Anti- 
 quity, among the Ptolemies, or the Seleuci- 
 da3, and even among the Cresars, can plead 
 no parallel among the other royal Houses of 
 modern Europe. It forms not the least sin-
 
 38 HISTORICAL 
 
 gular circumstance of the transaction, that 
 so far from any compulsion having been used 
 to accomplish it, the Princess, from her early 
 youth, entertained a strong partiality and at- 
 tachment towards Don Pedro, her future 
 Husband. She was near thirty-eight years 
 old, when I visited Portugal. 
 
 All the talents of the female part of the 
 Braganza Family, were said to be concen- 
 trated in Donna Maria Anna, second of Jo- 
 seph's Daughters. Shorter and thicker in 
 her person than the Princess of Brazil, she 
 was more agreeable in her countenance; 
 possessing a ruddy complexion, as well as 
 a more animated expression of features. 
 Her mind was likewise expanded, and her 
 understanding cultivated by polite know- 
 ledge. Many of her hours were dedicated 
 to reading, and she was regarded as supe- 
 rior to Bigotry. In addition to these solid 
 endowments, she joined great taste and skill 
 in Music, with a fine voice. Though the 
 most accomplished of the three Sisters, she 
 was nevertheless doomed to remain unmar- 
 ried in her father's Court, having attained, in 
 1772, her thirty-sixth year. Nature had been 
 in some respects more bountiful to the third
 
 MEMOIRS. 39 
 
 Princess, Donna Maria Benedicta, who was 
 likewise considerably younger, being only 
 six and twenty years old at this time. Though 
 low in stature, clumsy, and much inclined to 
 Embonpoint, her face was very handsome ; 
 her Eyes dark and eloquent, her Complexion 
 fair, the Contour of her Countenance rather 
 round than oval, and her features small, as 
 well as delicate. But she was not consider- 
 ed to possess the superiority of mind that 
 distinguished Maria Anna. About seven 
 years before the time of which 1 speak, a 
 treaty of Marriage had been set on foot be- 
 tween this Princess and the Emperor Joseph 
 the Second, who was then recently become 
 a widower, by the death of his first wife, a 
 Daughter of Don Philip, Duke of Parma. 
 The Negotiation proceeded so far, that pre- 
 parations were made for transporting her 
 from Lisbon to Flanders, in her way to Vi- 
 enna ; and a Ship, constructed expressly for 
 the purpose in the Brazils, magnificently de- 
 corated, lay ready in the Tagus. But, the 
 intrigues and exertions of the old Queen 
 Dowager of Spain, mother of Charles the 
 Third, and grandmother of the Princess her- 
 self; who was incensed at the endeavours of 
 the Marquis de Pombal, to assume the ex-
 
 40 HISTORICAL 
 
 elusive merit of this Alliance; rendered the 
 plan abortive. 
 
 It is probable, and I have been so assured 
 at Vienna, that the pretext used to indispose 
 the Austrian Court from accomplishing the 
 projected nuptials, was the representation 
 made of the improbability of Maria Benedicta 
 producing children, on account of her ten- 
 dency to become large and corpulent in her 
 Person. Incredible and unnatural as the 
 .Fact may seem, she was actually married, 
 several years afterwards, in 1777, when turned 
 of thirty years of age, to her own nephew, her 
 sister's son, the young Prince of Beyra, even- 
 tual Heir to the Throne of Portugal. The 
 Ceremony was performed in Joseph's apart- 
 ments, as he lay expiring; and they lived to- 
 gether many years, but never had any issue. 
 There seems to have been no rational excuse, 
 or adequate motive assigned, for this second 
 union in the same Family, which impresses 
 with a degree of horror, or at least, of disgust; 
 and was in itself the more remarkable, as the 
 Portugueze women of condition seldom bear 
 children, if not married before twenty-eight 
 or thirty Years of Age. Catherine of Portu- 
 gal, daughter of John the Fourth, who was
 
 MEMOIRS. 41 
 
 the wife of our Charles the Second, and who 
 espoused him at an earlier age, L believe about 
 twenty-four, never brought him any issue, 
 male or female; but Burnet says, that the 
 King himself told him, (Dr. Burnet) that 
 " she had been with child." She even once 
 miscarried, when considerably advanced in 
 her pregnancy, if we may believe the same 
 historical Authority : but, as Charles had no 
 fewer, it is asserted, (I think by Dr. Lucas, 
 in his History of England,) than fifty-three 
 natural Children, by different Mistresses, in 
 the course of his life; we must suppose that 
 his failure of legitimate issue, originated on 
 the side of his Queen. Some excuse may 
 be suggested for the marriage of the eldest 
 daughter of Joseph, with his brother, Don 
 Pedro, where no direct male issue existed 
 to inherit the Crown ; but it was reserved 
 for the family of Braganza to exhibit to 
 mankind, in the Eighteenth Century, the 
 extraordinary Spectacle of a youth of fifteen, 
 espousing his own Aunt at thirty. From 
 such a matrimonial Connexion, it can neither 
 excite surprise nor regret, that no Descend- 
 ants should have sprung. 
 
 The Prince of Beyra himself, eldest son
 
 42 HISTORICAL 
 
 of the Princess of Brazil and of Don Pedro, 
 was then the Marcellus of Portugal ; towards 
 whom all eyes were turned, and from whose 
 future auspicious Government, political mira- 
 cles were fondly anticipated. It may excite 
 the more surprise that such expectations 
 should have been entertained, when I add, 
 that in 1772, he had only completed the 
 eleventh year of his age. I have seen him 
 many times, as he never failed to attend the 
 Royal Family in public, at the Bull Feasts, at 
 Church, and everywhere except at the Italian 
 Opera ; a Diversion for which he manifested 
 a decided aversion. He was tall and manly 
 for his age, though his face was pale and de- 
 licate; and he appeared to have a weak or de- 
 fective sight. His features and his expression 
 of Countenance, it must be admitted, indi- 
 cated intelligence. The stories related of his 
 capacity and dawning expansion of mind, 
 had obtained very universal credit. Some 
 well attested instances of the goodness of his 
 disposition, and the liberality of his temper, 
 I have heard, which seemed to be entitled to 
 belief: but, no sort of inference, as to his fu- 
 ture character, could be safely drawn from 
 these tales. Joseph the First, during the 
 reign of his father, had excited similar ex-
 
 MEMOIRS. 43 
 
 pectations, which he by no means fulfilled 
 after he ascended the throne. His grandson, 
 who was likewise named Joseph, died at 
 about twenty-seven years of age, in 1788, 
 of the small-pox, which the bigotted preju- 
 dices and ignorance of his Mother, had pre- 
 vented her from giving him by Inoculation ; 
 leaving, as I before observed, no issue by 
 his Aunt, to whom he had been married dur- 
 ing several years. 
 
 With Don Pedro, father and great uncle 
 to the Prince of Beyra, I shall conclude my 
 remarks on the Royal House of Portugal. 
 He was several years younger than the King; 
 but, not inclined, like Joseph, to corpu- 
 lency; of a sallow complexion; equally des- 
 titute in his person, as in his manners and 
 address, of Elegance or Grace; and no way 
 distinguished by natural endowments of any 
 kind. He excelled in no exercises of the 
 Body ; and possessed in his features, no ex- 
 pression of Intellect. His faculties, which 
 were indeed very contracted, rendered him 
 altogether unfit for the conduct of public 
 affairs. Possessing neither political power 
 nor influence, he could only be considered 
 as a fixture of the Court; and never was
 
 44 HISTORICAL 
 
 any Prince a more perfect cypher. He en- 
 joyed no Command, military or civil ; not 
 even a separate Establishment or Household. 
 When the King hunted, Don Pedro accom- 
 panied him ; as he equally did to the Opera, 
 or to Mass ; never absenting himself except 
 on account of indisposition. He had con- 
 structed a Palace at Cayluze, about six 
 English Miles from Lisbon ; but Don Pedro 
 never resided there, though he frequently 
 attended his brother to the Chace ; com- 
 monly alighting on those Occasions for a 
 few minutes, in order to hear Mass at Cay- 
 luze. Those who knew him intimately, as- 
 sured me that he was of a devout, friendly, 
 and benevolent Disposition. On Joseph's de- 
 cease, in February, 1777, when his Consort, 
 the Princess of Brazil, became Queen in her 
 own right, he was made King matrimonial, 
 by the name of Don Pedro the Third ; as 
 Henry, Lord Darnley, became in Scotland, 
 on his marriage with Mary Stuart. Don 
 Pedro survived his elder brother above nine 
 years, dying in May, 1786. 
 
 The public Entertainment or Exhibition 
 which then distinguished Lisbon from all 
 other Capitals of Europe, was the celebra-
 
 MEMOIRS. 45 
 
 tion of Bull Feasts. They were held every 
 Sunday, during the Summer and Autumn. 
 I have been present at many of them. How- 
 ever barbarous the Diversion might justly be 
 esteemed, it is the only Spectacle that I ever 
 witnessed, which could be said to realize in 
 some measure, the Amphitheatrical Games 
 of ancient Rome, exhibited in the Circus. 
 They were already extinct in Spain, where 
 Charles the Third had abolished them, on 
 his ascending the Throne in 1759. Joseph 
 and the Queen his wife, on the contrary, nou- 
 rished the strongest partiality, or rather de- 
 cided passion, for these Games of Moresco 
 Origin ; which they never failed to attend, 
 unless prevented by illness. I have seen the 
 King present there, though one of his Eyes 
 was swelled and bandaged; caused by the 
 effect of a spark that had flown into it from 
 the flint of his fowling piece, when firing 
 it at the Chace. Those persons who have 
 formed their ideas of Bull Feasts, from 
 the entertaining descriptions of the Coun- 
 tess d'Aulnoi, which she has enlivened by 
 amorous, as well as by tragical Adventures; 
 and which were written at Madrid, under 
 the reign of Charles the Second, last Prince 
 ef the Austrian line, in 1679 and 1680;
 
 46 HISTORICAL 
 
 would have esteemed the diversion tame, as 
 it was exhibited at Lisbon, before Joseph 
 the First. Yet was it not altogether divested 
 of something that reminded me of the Tour- 
 naments and Exercises of Chivalry, with 
 which our imaginations are so warmly im- 
 pressed in youth. The Portugueze Bull 
 Feasts were celebrated in a large wooden 
 Amphitheatre, capable of commodiously con- 
 taining many thousand persons; surrounded 
 with Benches below, to a considerable height, 
 which were surmounted by tiers of Boxes. 
 The Arena was very ample and spacious. 
 When the Champion, who was about to en- 
 gage the Bulls, gaily dressed, mounted on a 
 spirited Horse, a Spear in his hand, appeared 
 upon the Ground, and saluted Uje Corporation 
 of Lisbon, as was the custom, the effect of the 
 Spectacle is not easy to describe in adequate 
 terms. From sixteen to twenty Bulls were re- 
 gularly sacrificed, every Sunday; and though 
 circular pieces of leather were fastened on 
 their Horns, in order to prevent their ripping 
 up or mortally wounding the Combatants, 
 yet I have witnessed many very severe and 
 several nearly fatal Accidents. Prodigious 
 dexterity, vigour, and address, were displayed 
 by some of the Horsemen: particularly by a
 
 MEMOIRS. 47 
 
 Castilian, who generally made his appear- 
 ance, and whom I have often seen drive his 
 spear, at the first thrust, direct into the 
 Bull's Heart, when the Animal was running 
 furiously at him. The Amphitheatre then 
 rang with Applauses. 
 
 ft frequently happened that the Bulls 
 wanted spirit or inclination for the contest. 
 In those cases, the Spectacle became rather a 
 Butchery, than a Combat, or an Amusement: 
 but, some of them would not have disgraced 
 a Roman Amphitheatre, if, (as I have been 
 assured was customary, a Century earlier,) 
 their Horns, instead of being blunted or 
 covered, had been filed and sharpened to a 
 point. Several of the men who fought on 
 foot, exhibited extraordinary agility and cool- 
 ness in eluding the rage of the incensed Ani- 
 mal ; but it must at the same time be remem- 
 bered, that they were commonly six or seven 
 combined, all armed with long Spears. I have 
 seen Women engage the Bull, ride up, and 
 wound him. Two in particular, who were 
 Dancerinas, or Posture-girls ; one, aVenetian, 
 the other, a Spaniard, habited as Men, and 
 sitting astride, possessed great firmness, and 
 excited general admiration. Sometimes the
 
 48 HISTORICAL 
 
 Bulls were furnished by the Court. I have 
 beheld twenty killed in the course of three 
 hours : eight of which were given by the King, 
 as many more by Don Pedro his Brother, 
 two by the Duke de Gadaval, and two, (how- 
 ever singular it may seem,) by the Patriarch 
 of Lisbon. After having witnessed several of 
 these Exhibitions, I confess that I became 
 disgusted with them. The most interesting 
 part of the Spectacle consisted in the assem- 
 blage of Spectators, particularly Ladies, who 
 filled the Boxes. Even the seats in the Pit, 
 were generally crowded with Females. The 
 Queen, and her three Daughters, never failed 
 to attend in the Royal Box; though they 
 were considered to be there Incognito. How- 
 ever barbarous the Diversion must be regard- 
 ed, it always reminded me of Milton's de- 
 scription of the Entertainments, 
 
 il Where throngs of Knights and Barons bold, 
 In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold ; 
 With store of Ladies, whose bright Eyes 
 Rain influence, and judge the Prize." 
 
 As soon as the Bull Feast ended, which 
 was commonly about six o'clock, the King, 
 Queen, and Royal Family immediately re- 
 paired to the Italian Opera, which was
 
 MEMOIRS. 49 
 
 ate at a very inconsiderable distance, in the 
 same quarter of Lisbon. Such was the in- 
 variable Usage or Etiquette, every Sunday. 
 Yet, there, as at the Bull Feast, though seat- 
 ed in the front of the Theatre, they were sup- 
 posed to preserve their Incognito. Joseph's 
 Dress on these occasions, was always a full- 
 trimmed suit of Silk, or of Cloth; either quite 
 plain, or embroidered with white Silk ; the 
 sumptuary laws of Portugal prohibiting Em- 
 broidery of gold or silver. He wore a flow- 
 ing tye-wig, as we see George the Second 
 represented in all his portraits : and the Por- 
 tugueze Order of Christ, across hisBreast. 
 The Queen and Princesses were covered with 
 Diamonds ; in particular, the Princess of 
 Brazil : but the Queen alone wore Rouge, 
 from the use of which her daughters abstain- 
 ed. During the course of the performance, 
 His Majesty never failed to go round to his 
 private Box, close to the Stage, in order to 
 view the Ballets, after each of which he re- 
 turned to the Royal Family. On these little 
 excursions, which he always seemed to en- 
 joy, and during which he generally made the 
 best use of his time, with his Opera Glass, 
 in contemplating the female part of the audi- 
 ence who filled the Side-Boxes, several No- 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 HISTORICAL 
 
 blemen accompanied him. The Count de 
 Prado alone possessed the privilege of being 
 seated, when attending the Sovereign; 3 
 mark of distinguished regard and predilec- 
 tion. To him Joseph appeared to communi- 
 cate all his confidential discourse, while the 
 other individuals in attendance, remained 
 standing behind him. Even the Duke de 
 Cadaval, though the sole person of that high 
 rank in the kingdom of Portugal ; there being 
 no other since the extinction of the Dukedom 
 of Aveiro; yet was never permitted to sit 
 down, in company with the King. After the 
 Count de Prado, the two Counts of Canti- 
 neida, and of Arcos, both sons of the Mar- 
 quis de Marial va, whose name always brought 
 Gil Bias before my imagination; enjoyed, in 
 1772, the highest place in Joseph's personal 
 favor. The former, I mean the Count de 
 Cantineida, was the only Nobleman in the 
 kingdom, allowed by a special grace of the 
 Crown, to drive in a Coach and six, with 
 which Equipage the King himself had pre- 
 sented him. 
 
 The memorable Earthquake of the first of 
 November, 1755, had impressed on almost 
 every part of Lisbon, the most awful traces
 
 MEMOIRS. 51 
 
 of its existence and ravages, at the time when 
 I visited that Capital. Many edifices still re- 
 mained exactly in the condition that they were 
 left by it; presenting such scenes of devasta- 
 tion and destruction, as would then have 
 been vainly sought for elsewhere in any Part 
 of Europe. Among them, the ancient Palace 
 of the Dukes of Braganza, which was built 
 on a commanding Eminence, in the Centre of 
 the Metropolis; and the Cathedral of Lisbon, 
 stood conspicuous. Both these majestic 
 Structures hourly threatened to crush the 
 Tenant, or the Devotee, who ventured to enter 
 them. Yet the former pile was inhabited by 
 various families or individuals, who, pressed 
 by Necessity, sought shelter under the totter- 
 ing roof; and Superstition or Devotion had 
 consecrated Chapels in the latter, amidst the 
 ruins of Altars and Domes, where Masses 
 were daily celebrated. I was peculiarly led 
 to visit the Cathedral, by the hope of find- 
 ing the Tomb of Camoens, the celebrated 
 Portugueze Poet, whose body, as I had been 
 assured, was there interred. But, I could 
 discover no proofs of any such Interment, 
 though I made every inquiry ; and I have 
 reason to believe, after all the researches in 
 my power, that as he unquestionably expired 
 
 E2
 
 52 HISTORICAL 
 
 in a public Hospital, of a disease which, from 
 its contagious nature, resembled the Plague, 
 he was thrown into a common Grave, with 
 a number of other dead Bodies. It is certain 
 that no Monument was ever erected to his 
 Memory. 
 
 A striking, and a melancholy Conformity 
 exists, between the Destiny of the two most 
 illustrious men of Genius, whom Spain and 
 Portugal have produced in modern Ages. 1 
 mean, Cervantes, and Camoens : a Conformity 
 which reflects no honor on those Countries, 
 nor on the Sovereigns and Ministers who thus 
 abandoned them to the rigors of Adversity. 
 Both served on the Expeditions undertaken 
 against the Mahometans, in the capacity of 
 private Soldiers ; and both were wounded. 
 Camoens lost an Eye, before the town of 
 Ceuta in Morocco; and Cervantes lost his 
 left hand, at the celebrated naval Battle of 
 Lepanto, gained by Don John of Austria in 
 1571, over the Turks. Each of them under- 
 went captivity, shipwreck, and all the cala- 
 mities of adverse fortune. Returning to their 
 native Country, both were admired, and de- 
 serted. John the Third and Sebastian, Kings 
 of Portugal, seem to have done as little to
 
 MEMOIRS. 58 
 
 ameliorate the Condition of Camoens, as Phi- 
 lip the Second and Third, the Sovereigns of 
 Spain, did for Cervantes. Each of them 
 attained to an advanced age, amidst the 
 pressure of diseases, penury, and privations. 
 Camoens breathed his last at Lisbon, in 1579, 
 at about sixty-two years of age, in an Hos- 
 pital ; reproaching his countrymen, as is as- 
 serted, for their cruel neglect. Cervantes, ex- 
 tenuated by the progress of a Dropsy, which 
 was rendered more severe by want, preserv- 
 ed his constitutional gaiety of disposition, 
 down to the last moments of his existence ; 
 expired at the age of sixty-nine, it may be 
 almost said, with the pen in his hand ; and 
 seemed to triumph over dissolution, by the 
 elasticity and energy of his mind. He died 
 at Madrid, in 1616; a year memorable in 
 the Annals of Genius, as it likewise deprived 
 the world of Shakespear! The author of 
 the " Lusiad," and the writer of " Don 
 " Quixote," were both thrown into the 
 ground, without even the decencies of an or- 
 dinary Funeral; nor can the spot where either 
 of their remains are deposited, be even as- 
 certained at the present time, ft is impos- 
 sible to consider these facts, without emo- 
 tions of mingled concern and indignation.
 
 54 HISTORICAL 
 
 Yet, Dante, Tasso, and Galileo, among the 
 Italians; Spenser, Otway, and Chatterton, 
 among us, appear to have experienced 
 scarcely a milder Fate. 
 
 If I could not discover the place of Camo- 
 ens's Interment, I at least found out the Grave 
 and Tombstone of the Author of " Tom 
 Jones." Fielding, who terminated his life, 
 as is well known, at Lisbon, in 1754, of a 
 complication of disorders, at little more than 
 forty-seven years of age, lies buried in the 
 Cemetery appropriated to the English Fac- 
 tory. I visited his Grave, which was al- 
 ready nearly concealed by weeds and nettles. 
 Though he did not suffer the extremity of 
 distress, under which Camoens and Cervan- 
 tes terminated their lives ; yet his Extrava- 
 gance, a quality so commonly characteristic 
 of men distinguished by talents, embittered 
 the evening of his days. Fielding, Richard- 
 son, and Le Sage, seem to have attained the 
 highest eminence in that seductive species of 
 writing, unknown to Antiquity, which we 
 denominate Novels. Crebillon, Marivaux, 
 and Smollett, only occupy the second place. 
 Voltaire and Rousseau, however beautiful 
 may be their Compositions in this Line, are
 
 MEMOIRS. 55 
 
 rather satirical or philosophical Moralists, 
 than Writers of Novels. " Don Quixote" is a 
 Work sui Generis, and not amenable to ordi- 
 nary rules. " Gil Bias" seems to stand alone, 
 and will probably be read with avidity in every 
 Age, and every Country. Though the Scene 
 lies in Spain, and the Characters are Spani- 
 ards, the manners are universal ; and true to 
 nature equally in Madrid, in Paris, or in 
 London. Richardson and Fielding are more 
 national, and cannot be read with the same 
 delight on the Banks of the Seine, or of the 
 Tyber, as on those of the Thames ; though 
 the former Writer transports us to Bologna, 
 in his Sir Charles Grandison. Fielding never 
 attempts to carry us out of England, and his 
 Actors are all Aborigines. Foreigners neither 
 can taste his works, nor will he ever attain 
 to the Fame of Richardson, beyond the limits 
 of his own Country. Clementina and Cla- 
 rissa will penetrate, where Sophia Western 
 and Parson Adams, never can be known or 
 appreciated. Joseph Andrews and Amelia 
 may be considered, in point of composition, 
 to Fielding, what Pamela is to Richardson. 
 
 The late Alderman Cadell, who was one of 
 the most intelligent, honourable, and superior
 
 50 HISTORICAL 
 
 men of his profession ; told me that his pre- 
 decessor, Millar, the Bookseller, bought 
 Fielding's Amelia of the Author ; giving him 
 for the Copy-right, eight hundred Pounds; 
 a great sum at that time. After making the 
 purchase, Millar shewed the Manuscript to 
 Sir Andrew Mitchell, who subsequently filled 
 the post of British Minister at Berlin; re- 
 questing to have his opinion of the work. Sir 
 Andrew observed to him, that it bore the in- 
 delible marks of Fielding's Genius, and was 
 a fine performance; but, nevertheless, far 
 beneath " Tom Jones;" finally advising him 
 to get rid of it as soon as he could. Millar 
 did not neglect the counsel, though he was 
 too able a man, to divulge the opinion deli- 
 vered by his friend. On the contrary, at the 
 first sale which he made to the Trade, he 
 said, " Gentlemen, I have several works to 
 V put up, for which I shall be glad if you 
 " will bid: but, as to Amelia, every Copy 
 " is already bespoke." This Manoeuvre had 
 its effect. All the Booksellers were anxious 
 to get their names put down for copies of it, 
 and the Edition, though very large, was im- 
 mediately sold. 
 
 All the most interesting particulars of the
 
 MEMOIRS. 57 
 
 Earthquake of 1755, have been recounted to 
 me by many of those persons who shared in, 
 and survived the horrors of that calamitous 
 Day, on which near forty thousand persons 
 were believed to have perished. They agreed, 
 that if it had taken place in the middle of 
 the night, when the fires were in general 
 extinguished, and when the darkness would 
 have prevented the greater part of the inha- 
 bitants from quitting their Houses before day- 
 break; not a fourth part of the lives would 
 have been lost, nor destruction have followed. 
 Prodigious numbers were swept off from the 
 Quays, by the sudden rise of the Tagus; and 
 the Conflagration which succeeded the Earth- 
 quake, spread even greater devastation than 
 did that conrulsion of nature. The first 
 shock, which came on about forty minutes 
 after nine in the morning, seemed to be hori- 
 zontal in its direction or movement: but the 
 second shock was perpendicular or vertical; 
 throwing up the pavement of the Streets, to 
 the height of forty and fifty feet into the air. 
 Near an hour intervened between the two 
 Concussions. The King, Queen, and Royal 
 Family, by good fortune, were not at the Pa- 
 lace in Lisbon, but, at Belem, which stands 
 near two Miles lower down, on the same side
 
 58 HISTORICAL 
 
 of the river. As the Apartments which they 
 inhabited, were all built on the ground, His 
 Majesty leaped out of the window of his 
 Chamber, into the Garden, on first perceiv- 
 ing the shock; while the three Princesses, 
 his Daughters, who were either not yet risen, 
 or not dressed, followed him, wrapped in the 
 bed-clothes. 
 
 Lisbon has, in all Ages, been subject to the 
 awful visitation and ravages of Earthquakes. 
 History commemorates several, during the 
 lapse of the last six Centuries, which have 
 successively laid that Capital in ruins, and 
 buried or ingulphed a large part of the po- 
 pulation. The most destructive Earthquake 
 known in modern Times, previous to the year 
 1 755, happened in February, 1 522, soon after 
 the decease of Emanuel, in the first year of 
 the reign of his son, John the Third. The 
 Concussions of the Earth then lasted during 
 eight days ; but do not appear to have pro- 
 duced a Conflagration as ruinous or exten- 
 sive, as that which took place under Joseph; 
 though more than fifteen hundred Houses, be- 
 sides Churches, Palaces, and public Edifices, 
 of every kind, were destroyed. Thirty thou- 
 sand persons perished in Lisbon alone; while
 
 MEMOIRS. 59 
 
 Santarem, Almerin, and many other places, 
 were swallowed up, together with their in- 
 habitants. John the Third, his Queen, and 
 the royal family, were compelled to encamp 
 in the fields, under Tents, just as Joseph did 
 in November, 1 755. Great as these Convul- 
 sions of Nature were, they may nevertheless 
 be esteemed slight, both in their extent and 
 in their effects, if compared with those which 
 desolated Calabria, in more recent periods, 
 as late as the year 1783. 
 
 It is evident that the Earthquake of 1755 
 ran in a kind of vein, principally ravaging 
 a circle or space of about four to five miles; 
 which was reduced to a state of desolation, 
 by the fire that followed it. The " Alfama," 
 or ancient Moorish City, situate higher up 
 the river, as well as the Suburb of Belem, 
 extending lower down the Tagus; though 
 both may be said to form a part of Lisbon, 
 nearly as Wapping and Westminster con- 
 stitute portions of London ; yet received, 
 comparatively, little injury. The principal 
 Edifices, and even the Houses in both, re- 
 mained, if not unshaken, yet undemolished. 
 In 1772, rather more than half the space 
 originally laid waste by the Earthquake and
 
 (JO HISTORICAL 
 
 fire, had been already rebuilt. Some of the 
 new Streets might even vie in regularity and 
 magnificence, with those of any Capital in 
 Europe; forming an astonishing contrast with 
 the filth, antiquity, and barbarism, characte- 
 ristic of the Eastern extremity, or " Alfama." 
 
 The Family of Braganza has not produced, 
 even down to the present time, any Sovereign 
 endowed with Talents such as distinguished 
 the two Kings, John the Second and Ema- 
 nuel, who reigned over the Portugueze in the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth Centuries. John the 
 Fourth himself, Founder of the Braganza 
 line, though he effected the recovery of their 
 national independence, seemed to be in no de- 
 gree qualified by Nature, for the performance 
 of so perilous a task. Gustavus Vasa, who 
 expelled the Tyrant Christian the Second, 
 from Sweden; Henry the Fourth, who crushed 
 "the League" in France; William the First, 
 and William the Third, Princes of Orange, 
 who successively liberated the Dutch ; the 
 former, from the yoke of Spain, and the lat- 
 ter, from the arms of Louis the XlVth ; 
 all these were superior Men, endowed with 
 Energies such as Providence confers on He- 
 roes. But, the Duke of Braganza was an
 
 MEMOIRS. 61 
 
 ordinary individual, whose abilities were of 
 the most moderate description: even his per- 
 sonal courage was never proved in the Field. 
 It was the heroic spirit of his Consort, which 
 supplying these defects, impelled him to seize 
 the Crown, which the weakness and incapa- 
 city of the Spanish Government under Philip 
 the Fourth, might be said to tender him. She 
 was, herself, by birth a Spaniard, daughter 
 of the Duke of Medina Sidonia : her name, 
 Louisa de Guzman. After the decease of 
 the King her husband in 1656, she continued 
 to act as Regent. John the Fourth left two 
 sons, the eldest of whom, Alphonso the Sixth, 
 was only thirteen years of age. Labouring 
 from his infancy under incurable maladies, 
 or debilities of body and of mind, he appears 
 to have been altogether unfit to exercise 
 the duties or functions of Sovereign Power. 
 While his Mother held the reins of State, 
 Alphonso's incapacity, and acts of violence 
 or of imbecility, were prevented from ex- 
 citing any national commotions of a serious 
 nature: but, after the retreat and decease of 
 that illustrious Princess in 1666, his deposi- 
 tion speedily followed. It was merited by 
 his excesses, and utter inaptitude for Go- 
 vernment. His own wife, a Princess of the
 
 62 HISTORICAL 
 
 House of Nemours, descended from the 
 Dukes of Savoy, to whom he had been 
 recently married, but, with whom he had 
 never been able to consummate his nuptials; 
 combining with Don Pedro, his younger 
 Brother, a Prince of prudence, energy, and 
 ability; arrested and deposed Alphonso. In 
 performing this Revolutionary act, they were 
 only the agents and instruments of the Na- 
 tion, who unanimously demanded, sanction- 
 ed, and maintained it. 
 
 Don Pedro, thus called to the supreme 
 Authority by the voice of the Portugueze, at 
 twenty years of age, in 1668, did not how- 
 ever assume the title of King. Like the 
 present Prince Regent of the same Country, 
 he contented himself with that Denomination ; 
 but he married Mary of Nemours, his Bro- 
 ther's wife, as Henry the Eighth of England 
 had espoused Catherine of Arragon. Till 
 the death of Alphonso, which took place 
 seventeen years later, in 1683, Pedro only 
 exercised the Regency. Alphonso was first 
 sent to the Azores, or Western Islands, 
 situate in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean ; 
 where he resided for some years, at Ter- 
 ceira, in an honorable restraint : but it was
 
 MEMOIRS. 63 
 
 afterwards judged expedient to conduct him 
 back to Portugal, and to confine him in one 
 of the royal Palaces, at Cintra ; a village not 
 remote from Lisbon, situate towards the 
 mouth of the Tagus, in a Country abound- 
 ing with natural beauties of every kind, 
 which render it one of the most delicious 
 and enchanting spots in Europe. At a more 
 recent period, Cintra has attained historical 
 Celebrity, from the Convention there conclu- 
 ded, or rather at Torres Vedras, with the 
 French, in 1808. In the Palace at the former 
 place, 1 visited the Apartment in which Al- 
 phonso was imprisoned, and where he ended 
 his days. Though become somewhat ruin- 
 ous in 1772, it was tolerably spacious, being 
 about twenty feet square, and proportion- 
 ably lofty. He passed eleven years as a cap- 
 tive, in that chamber. Towards the latter 
 part of his life, his understanding, naturally 
 very weak, became wholly alienated. He 
 grew furious to such a degree, that it was 
 found necessary to confine him by an iron 
 rail, which surrounded his Bed, and allowed 
 him only a space of about fourteen to sixteen 
 feet, for exercise. The Bricks, of which the 
 floor was composed, were worn away in this 
 track, by the constant action of his feet.
 
 64 HISTORICAL 
 
 His death, however, as far as we can assert, 
 or are warranted to conjecture, was not ac- 
 celerated by any act of Treachery or Vio- 
 lence. It is an extraordinary circumstance, 
 that Alphonso terminated his unfortunate 
 life on the 12th of December, 1683 ; and 
 that his former wife, Mary of Nemours, who 
 was married to his younger Brother Don 
 Pedro, died on the 17th of the same month 
 and year, leaving no issue by that Prince. 
 
 Pedro the Second, who continued to reign 
 down to the commencement of the last Cen- 
 tury, in 1706; was unquestionably the most 
 able of the Sovereigns that have governed 
 Portugal, from 1640 down to the present 
 time. John the Fifth, his son and successor, 
 seems to have been a man of moderate intel- 
 lectual endowments : fond of show, but des- 
 titute of taste ; and during the latter Years 
 of his Life, when the Powers of his Mind 
 had been enfeebled in Consequence of an 
 Apoplectic Stroke, enslaved by Bigotry. 
 He expended forty-five Millions of Crusa- 
 does, or nearly four Millions Sterling, in the 
 erection of a Palace at Maffra, about five 
 leagues north of Cintra, and not far removed 
 from the Shore of the Atlantic. It formed a
 
 MEMOIRS. 65 
 
 monument of royal prodigality, blended with 
 Superstition. Who can believe, that in the 
 last Century, any Prince would construct a 
 residence, in imitation or emulation of the 
 Escurial of Philip the Second of Spain? 
 John did not, indeed, like Philip, build the 
 Palace of Maffra, in the form of a Gridiron ; 
 but he united in one Edifice, precisely as 
 that King had done, a Palace, a Church, 
 and a Convent. The Church occupied the 
 centre of the Building ; contiguous to it being 
 placed the Cloisters ; together with the Cells, 
 or apartments of the Monks. Three hun- 
 dred Franciscan Friars, a Monastic Order 
 distinguished for the disgusting filth of their 
 dress and appearance, were there stationed. 
 They had even a Hospital in the central 
 part of the Edifice, for the diseased and 
 infirm members of the Fraternity. One of 
 the first acts of Joseph's reign, was to dis- 
 lodge these religious nuisances ; and when I 
 visited Maffra, they had been replaced by 
 secular priests, diminished in number. The 
 Palace, dismantled, forsaken, and forming 
 altogether an appendage to the Convent, 
 extended in two wings on either side, and 
 behind the Church ; but, without Gardens or 
 pleasure grounds of any kind. Such was 
 VOL, I. F
 
 66 HISTORICAL 
 
 Maffra, the Versailles of Portugal ; erected, 
 like that Palace, in a situation little favoured 
 by nature ! John the Fifth expended more 
 beneficially the treasures of the State, in 
 constructing the Aqueduct of Alcantra, 
 scarcely a mile out of Lisbon, which supplies 
 the Capital in a great Degree, with water. 
 In solidity and grandeur, it is a work worthy 
 of ancient Rome ; crossing a deep valley or 
 Ravine, from one mountain to another, on 
 Arches; the central Arch of which Range 
 is three hundred feet in height, and ninety in 
 breadth. The Earthquake of 1755, spared 
 this monument of national utility, which re- 
 ceived little injury from the shock ; and the 
 construction of which reconciled me in some 
 measure, to the Sovereign by whom it was 
 raised. 
 
 The reign of Joseph may be more properly 
 denominated the Administration of the Cond6 
 de OEyras, created afterwards Marquis de 
 Pombal, than it can be characterized by any 
 other description. The name of this Minis- 
 ter was Sebastian Joseph Carvalho. His 
 Birth, noble, but not illustrious, would never 
 have opened him a way to power, tho' aided 
 by extraordinary talents, if Court Favour
 
 MEMOIRS. 67 
 
 had not sustained and propelled them. 
 Maria Anna of Austria, daughter of the 
 Emperor Leopold the First, and Queen of 
 John the Fifth, recommended him to her son 
 Joseph ; who, on his accession to the Throne 
 in 1750, named Carvalho, Secretary for Fo- 
 reign Affairs. His own abilities atchieved 
 the rest. On him, Joseph seemed to have 
 devolved the exclusive and absolute Govern- 
 ment of the State ; nor was he unworthy of 
 that selection. At the time that I saw him, 
 he had attained his seventy-third year ; but 
 age appeared neither to have diminished the 
 vigor, freshness, nor activity of his faculties. 
 In his person he was very tall and slender ; 
 his face long, pale, meagre, and full of intel- 
 ligence. He was so unpopular, and so many 
 attempts had been made to assassinate him, 
 that he never went out without Guards. 
 Even in the Streets of Lisbon, his Carriage 
 was always accompanied or surrounded by 
 a detachment of Cavalry, with their swords 
 drawn for his protection. He was, indeed, 
 not less odious to the Nobility and Clergy, 
 than to the People ; perhaps, even more so ; 
 one of the great objects of his policy, during 
 more than twenty years, having been to re- 
 duce the Aristocratic and Ecclesiastical Fri- 
 F 2
 
 68 HISTORICAL 
 
 vileges of every kind, to a strict dependanee 
 on the Crown and Government. 
 
 In 1772, the State Prisons were crouded 
 with unfortunate victims. The Tower of 
 Belem, the Fort of the Bougie, situate at the 
 mouth of the Tagus, and the Castle of St. 
 Julien, placed at the northern entrance of 
 that river, were all full of prisoners ; among 
 whom, a great proportion had been Jesuits, 
 arrested either in 1758, or in 1763, by Orders 
 of the first Minister. The subterranean 
 Casemates of the Castle of St. Julien con- 
 tained above a hundred individuals, who 
 could be clearly discerned by persons walk- 
 ing on the Ramparts of the Fortress, through 
 the iron gratings which admitted some light 
 to those gloomy abodes. I have, myself, 
 beheld many of them, at the depth of fifty or 
 sixty feet below me, pacing to and fro ; most 
 of whom, being Jesuits, were habited in the 
 Dress of the Order. They excited great 
 Commiseration. The famous Gabriel Mala- 
 grida, an Italian Jesuit, who was accused 
 of having, as Confessor to the Marchioness 
 of Tavora, known and encouraged her to 
 make the attempt upon Joseph's life; after 
 being long imprisoned in that Fortress, was
 
 MEMOIRS. -69 
 
 strangled, and his Body subsequently re- 
 duced to Ashes at the stake, in 1761. He 
 appears to have been rather a Visionary, and 
 an imbecile Fanatic, than a man of dangerous 
 parts. His public Execution, when near 
 seventy-five years of age, must be considered 
 as a cruel and odious act, which reflects 
 disgrace on Joseph, and on his Minister. 
 Malagrida's name is become proverbial 
 among us, to express duplicity ; and has 
 been applied, perhaps unjustly, to one of 
 our greatest modern Statesmen, by his poli- 
 tical Opponents. Many other persons of all 
 ranks, either known, or believed to have 
 been, implicated in the Duke d'Aveiro's 
 Conspiracy, remained in 1772 shut up in 
 the various State Prisons of Portugal. Most, 
 or all of these unhappy sufferers who sur- 
 vived, have, I believe, been since liberated 
 in 1777, on the Accession .of the present 
 Queen. 
 
 In extenuation, if not in justification of 
 the first Minister, and of Joseph, it must 
 however be admitted that the national cha- 
 racter of the Portugueze, at once bigotted, 
 sanguinary, and vindictive, demanded a se- 
 vere Government. They were neither to be
 
 70 HISTORICAL 
 
 reformed, enlightened, nor coerced, by gen- 
 tle and palliative remedies. At the decease 
 of John the Fifth, the Streets of Lisbon, even 
 in the most frequented Quarters, exhibited 
 perpetual scenes of violence, and of murder, 
 during the night. Dead bodies, stabbed, and 
 covered with wounds, were left exposed in 
 the Squares and public places. But, before 
 1772, the Police, introduced and rigorously 
 enforced by the Marquis de Pombal, had al- 
 most extinguished these enormities ; and had 
 rendered the Capital nearly as secure as Lon- 
 don. During my residence there, of many 
 weeks, such was the vigilance of the Patrole, 
 that only one Assassination was committed ; 
 and I have returned home, alone, on foot, 
 at the latest hours, without danger or appre- 
 hension. Nor were the cares of the First 
 Minister, limited to the mere protection of 
 the Metropolis. Its re-edification, salubrity, 
 and improvement in every sense, occupied 
 his capacious mind. Lisbon might truly be 
 said to rise from its ashes, as ancient Rome 
 did under Augustus, renewed and beautified. 
 The education of the young Nobility formed 
 likewise, a distinguished object of his re- 
 gard. A College, founded solely for their 
 benefit, at an immense expense, was already
 
 MEMOIRS. 71 
 
 nearly completed. I visited it, as I did the 
 manufactures of silk, of lace, of ivory, and 
 many others, carrying on under his Aus- 
 pices. All these bespoke a great and ele- 
 vated understanding, intent on ameliorating 
 the order of things, and animated by very 
 salutary or enlarged views. But, the greater 
 number of the Marquis de Pombal's institu- 
 tions, edifices, and fabricks, being incom- 
 plete, demanded time or funds for their entire 
 accomplishment. The detestation in which 
 he was held, impeded their progress : nor 
 was it doubted, that as soon as the present 
 Queen, then Princess of Brazil, should suc- 
 ceed to the throne ; her Superstition, or her 
 Prejudices, would overturn all that Joseph 
 and his Minister had done, to introduce im- 
 provements or reforms into Portugal. The 
 event justified this prediction. 
 
 Joseph's reign, which had been marked by 
 Earthquakes, Conspiracies, and War, was 
 regarded by the Portugueze Nation, not 
 without some apparent reason, as a most 
 calamitous period. Yet if we compare the 
 misfortunes of that time, with those which 
 have succeeded, when the Sovereign, the 
 Royal Family, and the principal Nobility,
 
 72 HISTORICAL 
 
 have been compelled to abandon their native 
 Country, in order to seek an Asylum in 
 South America; while the Capital and the 
 Provinces have been occupied, over-run, and 
 plundered, by a revolutionary Enemy of the 
 most rapacious description ; how compara- 
 tively tolerable were the evils endured under 
 Joseph, when placed near those to which 
 Portugal has been subjected under his 
 Daughter ! They may be said to have equal- 
 led, if they did not exceed, between 1807 
 and 1810, the degradation and subversion 
 which followed the death of Sebastian, in 
 the sixteenth Century, when Philip the Se- 
 cond rendered himself master of the king- 
 dom. Having mentioned Sebastian, I shall 
 say a few words on the History of that un- 
 fortunate Prince. It is well known that he 
 perished or disappeared, in the famous Battle 
 of Arzila, on the Coast of Barbary, fought 
 on the 4th of August, 1578. I have seen, 
 in the royal Palace at Cintra, a little open 
 Court or Balcony, adjoining one of the rooms 
 of State, in which was constructed a stone 
 Chai or seat, coated with a sort of coarse 
 Porcelain ; a Bench of the same materials ex- 
 tending on each side. In that Chair, while 
 his Ministers sate round him, Sebastian, ?s
 
 MEMOIRS. 73 
 
 constant Tradition asserts, held the memor- 
 able Council, in which the Enterprize against 
 Morocco was resolved on, contrary to the 
 advice and opinions of his more prudent 
 Counsellors. That he was no more seen 
 after the day of the Battle of Arzila, by the 
 Portugueze, is certain ; but it is not abso- 
 lutely ascertained beyond all doubt, that he 
 perished there. His Body was never found, 
 or at least, was never identified ; and I have 
 conversed with very judicious men at Lisbon, 
 who inclined to believe that the individual 
 who appeared at Venice in 1 598, asserting 
 himself to be Sebastian, was really that 
 Prince. 
 
 Joseph had one Sister, named Barbara, 
 who was married, at seventeen years of age, 
 to Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, youngest 
 of the sons of Philip the Fifth, King of 
 Spain, by his first Queen, and who after- 
 wards succeeded him in the Spanish Throne. 
 This Princess, who seems to hare been en- 
 tirely under the dominion of Superstition and 
 of Music ; before she quitted Lisbon, in order 
 to become the wife of Ferdinand, in 1729, 
 having repaired to the Church of the " Madr 
 de Dios," or Mother of God, situate on the
 
 74 HISTORICAL 
 
 banks of the Tagus, in the Suburbs ; there 
 made a solemn offering to the Virgin, of the 
 rich Dress, laces, and valuable jewels, which 
 she had worn at the ceremony of her Espou- 
 sals. I was induced to visit the Church, for 
 the purpose of viewing this magnificent sa- 
 crifice or renunciation of female ornament. 
 The image was habited from head to foot, in 
 the finest lace; the Stomacher, Necklace, and 
 Ear-rings, being altogether composed of Bril- 
 liants. Lady Wortley Montagu remarks, in 
 one of her Letters, written from some part of 
 Germany ; I believe, from Cologne ; that in 
 her time, as early as 1717, or 1718, the kna- 
 very of the Priests had already removed, in 
 most, or in many of the Catholic Churches, 
 the precious stones which Devotees had pre- 
 sented to the Saints ; substituting paste, or 
 other imitations in their place. This asser- 
 tion may have been well founded, relative to 
 Germany ; but was not true in Portugal, at 
 a much later period. I viewed these Dia- 
 monds, by permission of the priests, very 
 closely, through the medium of a glass case, 
 in which the Virgin herself was inclosed; 
 and I have not the slightest doubt that they 
 were the identical jewels, presented by the 
 Princess on the above-mentioned occasion.
 
 MEMOIRS. 75 
 
 At the feet of his Mother, secured within the 
 
 same case, lay a waxen figure of the Infant 
 
 Jesus, wrapt in similar attire, and reposing 
 
 in a Cradle of solid silver. How long these 
 
 costly articles of Dress may have remained 
 
 unremoved in the Church of the " Madre de 
 
 Dios," since I saw them, I cannot pretend 
 
 to say : but we may presume that the Prince 
 
 Regent, when he embarked for Rio Janeiro, 
 
 did not leave them behind, for the Duchess 
 
 of Abrant6s, or the revolutionary rapacity of 
 
 the French Generals ; who would no more 
 
 have spared them, than the Elder Dionysius 
 
 respected the golden Beard of Esculapius, 
 
 or the Mantle of Jupiter. 
 
 The Princess Barbara, who became Queen 
 of Spain in 1746, constituted the supreme 
 felicity of Ferdinand the Sixth, her husband ; 
 with whom she lived twenty-nine years, in 
 a state of such conjugal union as is rarely 
 to be found in human life, and still more 
 rarely on the Throne. They nevertheless re- 
 mained without issue. Like his Queen, 
 Ferdinand nourished a decided passion, or 
 rather rage, for Music; and it is well known 
 that the celebrated Farinelli enjoyed under 
 his reign, as he had previously done under that
 
 76 HISTORICAL 
 
 of Philip the Fifth, an almost unbounded 
 Ascendant over both the King and Queen. 
 Such was Farinelli's prodigious influence, 
 that he may be said to have shared the politi- 
 cal power of the state with Ensenada, the first 
 Minister of Ferdinand; a Prince who, though 
 he reigned in our own Times, is hardly known 
 or remembered beyond the limits of Spain. 
 His talents were very confined, but his in- 
 tentions were upright. Notwithstanding the 
 obligations of the " Family Compact," he 
 refused, on the Commencement of the War 
 between Great-Britain and France in 1756, 
 to join the latter power; or to sacrifice, as his 
 Successor Charles the Third did in 1761, the 
 interests of his People, to the ties of Consan- 
 guinity existing between him and Louis the 
 Fifteenth. Till his Decease, which took place 
 in 1759, Ferdinand maintained a strict Neu- 
 trality. His Death was unquestionably pro- 
 duced by grief for the loss of his Queen, who 
 had been carried off in the preceding year. 
 From that time, Ferdinand became a prey to 
 the most inveterate Melancholy, which not 
 only enfeebled, but, in some measure alien- 
 ated his mind. Abandoning himself to des- 
 pair, he declined all society; refused to 
 change his linen, or to take any remedies,
 
 MEMOIRS. 77 
 
 during some weeks before he expired ; and 
 ultimately died the victim of conjugal Affec- 
 tion. In consequence of this event, his half- 
 Brother, Charles, son of Philip the Fifth by 
 his second wife, the Parmesana as she was 
 denominated ; who then reigned at Naples, 
 ascended the Throne of Spain. 
 
 I passed a great part of the years 1775 
 and 1 776, in France, not long after the de- 
 cease of Louis the Fifteenth ; a Sovereign 
 whose character and actions always appear- 
 ed to me to be depreciated and undervalued 
 by the French, nearly in the same proportion 
 that they have elevated those of Louis the 
 Fourteenth above their just Standard. Like 
 his Predecessor, he succeeded to the Crown, 
 while in childhood ; but, he had not the same 
 advantages as Louis the Fourteenth enjoyed, 
 whose Mother, Anne of Austria, watched with 
 maternal solicitude over his preservation. 
 Louis the Fifteenth, who at five Years of Age, 
 survived both his parents, was left, during the 
 Regency of Philip, Duke of Orleans, princi- 
 pally to the care of Fleury, Bishop of Frejus, 
 who obtained over his pupil, an early, and 
 almost an unbounded ascendant. The Re- 
 gency lasted above eight years; and during
 
 78 HISTORICAL 
 
 no period of time since the Abdication of 
 James the Second in 1689, have France and 
 England been so closely united by political 
 ties. George the First and the Regent Duke, 
 both, dreaded a Pretender : one, in the son 
 of James; the other, in Philip the Fifth, 
 King of Spain. Impelled by this apprehen- 
 sion, the two Princes equally made the policy 
 and interests of their respective Countries, 
 subordinate to their personal objects of Ac- 
 quisition or Ambition. Philip, Duke of 
 Orleans, was undoubtedly one of the most 
 immoral and profligate men whom we have 
 beheld in modern Ages. The Orgies of the 
 " Palais Royal," probably exceeded in de- 
 pravity, as well as in enormity, every thing 
 of the same kind ever acted, even in France. 
 The incestuous Fables of Antiquity, and the 
 unnatural Amours of Cinyras and Myrrha, 
 which we read with Horror in Ovid ; the 
 revolting Stories related of Alexander the 
 Sixth and his Daughter Lucretia Borgia ; 
 were believed to have been realized in the 
 Persons of the Duchess de Berri, and the 
 Abbess de Chelles, with their own Father. 
 But, notwithstanding the Disgust excited by 
 such Scenes of infamous Turpitude, we must 
 acknowledge that the Regent likewise dis-
 
 MEMOIRS. 79 
 
 played some of the greatest endowments and 
 talents, fitted both for the Cabinet and for 
 the Field. His Descendant, who performed 
 so detestable a part in the late French Re- 
 volution, only resembled him in his vices. 
 He inherited neither the distinguished perso- 
 nal courage, nor the ardor for knowledge, 
 nor the military skill, nor the aptitude for 
 public Business, nor the elevated mind of 
 the Regent; who, if he had not been re- 
 strained by some considerations of goodness, 
 or some emotions of affection, might easily 
 have acted by Louis the Fifteenth, as we 
 suppose that Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 
 did by Edward the Fifth; or, as we know 
 that the late Duke of Orleans acted by Louis 
 the Sixteenth, and his Queen. To the Re- 
 gent, whose life was terminated before the 
 End of the Year 1723, in the arms of the 
 Duchess de Valori, abbreviated by his ex- 
 cesses, succeeded the short and feeble Mi- 
 nistry of the Duke of Bourbon, comprizing 
 scarcely three years ; but, which Period of 
 Time produced one event peculiarly interest- 
 ing to the young King, and to France; I 
 mean, his Marriage. 
 
 There is no instance in the last, or present 

 
 no 
 
 Century, of any female attaining so great an 
 elevation, as that of Mademoiselle de Lec- 
 zinska to the Throne of France : for, we 
 cannot justly reckon the second marriage of 
 the Czar Peter, with Catherine, the Livonian 
 Peasant, as an exception. Muscovy could 
 scarcely then be considered as forming a 
 portion of the European System, nor were 
 its Sovereigns altogether subjected to our 
 usages. That the Daughter of an expatriated 
 Polish Nobleman or Palatine, whom Charles 
 the Twelfth of Sweden had nominally forced 
 upon the Poles, as their King, during a few 
 years ; but, who was in fact only a needy, 
 exiled Adventurer, driven by necessity to 
 take shelter in an obscure provincial town of 
 Alsace, and destitute of Territories, or almost 
 of support; that a Princess, if such she 
 might indeed be properly denominated, who 
 could hardly be thought a suitable match for 
 one of the petty Sovereigns on the Banks of 
 the Elbe, or the Rhine, should have been se- 
 lected for thp. Consort of a King of France ; 
 may assuredly be considered as one of the 
 most singular Caprices of Fortune. Its sin- 
 gularity becomes augmented, when we re- 
 flect that the young Monarch was already 
 not only betrothed to the daughter of Philip
 
 MEMOIRS. 81 
 
 the Fifth, his Uncle, King of Spain ; but, 
 that the Princess destined to share his Throne 
 and Bed, had long resided in France, the nup- 
 tials being only delayed till the two parties 
 should attain a proper age. Yet, in defiance 
 of this impediment, did the Duke of Bour- 
 bon venture to send back Philip's Daugh- 
 ter to Madrid; and I met her at Lisbon, near 
 half a Century afterwards, become Queen of 
 Portugal ; transported from the Banks of the 
 Seine, to those of the Tagus: while a native 
 of Poland, brought up in obscurity, and 
 hardly accounted among the female Candi- 
 dates for an European Crown, supplied her 
 place. The motive assigned for so extraor- 
 dinary a proceeding on the part of the Duke 
 of Bourbon, was his apprehension that the 
 young King, whose delicate Constitution 
 seemed scarcely to promise his attaining to 
 manhood, should die without issue. 
 
 I have been assured by persons conversant 
 in the secret History of the early part of 
 Louis the Fifteenth's reign, that when the 
 Duke of Bourbon determined on dissolving 
 the unconsummated Marriage between the 
 young King and Philip's Daughter, he found 
 himself under the greatest embarrassment, 
 
 VOL. i. G
 
 82 HISTORICAL 
 
 whom to substitute in her room. He had a 
 Sister, Mademoiselle de Sens, born in 1705, 
 whose age and personal accomplishments 
 rendered her a fit Bride for Louis. She then 
 resided at the Abbey of Fontevraud in Anjou, 
 under the protection of the Abbess ; and it 
 was natural for the Duke to desire to raise her 
 to the Throne. But, he was himself enslaved 
 to the celebrated Marchioness de Prie, his 
 Mistress, who wished ta have the merit of 
 naming the future Queen ; in whose House- 
 hold, and about whose person, she aspired to 
 occupy a distinguished situation. On the 
 other hand, they both equally dreaded giving 
 a wife to their Sovereign, whose Charms, Ta- 
 lents; or Ambition, might impel her to assume 
 an empire over his mind. Louis, then only 
 entering on his sixteenth year, brought up in 
 great seclusion, scarcely initiated in public 
 Business; and though not destitute of talents; 
 yet indolent, of very reserved habits, modest, 
 and diffident of himself; would, not improb- 
 ably, like his uncle Philip the Fifth, be go- 
 verned by a Queen of energy or spirit. Be- 
 fore the choice fell therefore on the Duke of 
 Bourbon's sister, it behoved the Marchioness 
 to ascertain whether, if selected for so great 
 an elevation, she would probably manifest
 
 MEMOIRS. 83 
 
 ductility of character, gratitude, and attach- 
 ment towards the person who principally rais- 
 ed her to that eminence. In order to obtain 
 satisfaction on a point so important, Madame 
 de Prie determined to procure an interview 
 with Mademoiselle de Sens, to whom she was 
 unknown by person, though not by reputa- 
 tion. Assuming therefore a fictitious name, 
 she repaired to Fontevraud, and having been 
 presented to her, found means to turn the con- 
 versation on the Marchioness de Prie. Un- 
 conscious that the stranger to whom she ad- 
 dressed her discourse, was the Marchioness 
 herself, the Princess gave full scope to her 
 antipathy towards a woman, whom she con-, 
 sidered as exercising a pernicious influence 
 over her brother's mind. This disclosure of 
 her sentiments, at once stopped the further 
 prosecution of Madame de Prie's plan for 
 placing her on the French Throne, and 
 compelled her to turn her views to another 
 quarter. 
 
 The Duke of Bourbon, not discouraged by 
 the obstacle which difference of religion im- 
 posed, next embraced the extraordinary mea- 
 sure of demanding for his master, the hand of 
 an English Princess ; and he named as the 
 
 G 2
 
 84 HISTORICAL 
 
 object of his selection, the eldest Grand- 
 daughter of George the First, Anne, who af- 
 terwards married William the Fourth, Prince 
 of Orange. This event took place in 17*25. 
 However strong might be the objection aris- 
 ing from her profession of the Protestant 
 faith, which she must necessarily have re- 
 nounced, in order to ascend the Throne of 
 France, yet the offer was alluring ; and Hen- 
 rietta, sister of Charles the Second, had mar- 
 ried Philip, Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis 
 the Fourteenth, after Charles's Restoration. 
 But, George the First, though gratified by the 
 proposition of seeing one of his female de- 
 scendants wear the French Crown, yet was 
 too wise to accept it; well knowing that such 
 an Alliance, however splendid in itself, or 
 whatever political advantages it might seem 
 to present, would irritate and disgust all the 
 adherents of the Succession in the House of 
 Hanover. Thus foiled in two attempts to dis- 
 pose of Louis the Fifteenth's hand, and firm- 
 ly resolved on effecting his marriage without 
 Delay, Madame de Prie cast her eyes on 
 Maria Leczinska, the daughter of Stanislaus. 
 She was then living with her father, at Weis- 
 sembourg in Alsace ; a town situate not far 
 from the Rhine, on the frontier of Germany.
 
 MEMOIRS. 00 
 
 though in the dominions of France ; where the 
 titular King of Poland resided in as much 
 obscurity, as Charles the Second lived in the 
 preceding Century at Cologne, during the 
 Protectorate of Cromwell. So little expecta- 
 tion did he entertain of matching his Daughter 
 with a crowned head, that he had already lent 
 a favourable ear to the proposals of a private 
 Nobleman, a subject of France, the Count 
 d'Estrees, who offered her Marriage. Stanis- 
 laus accepted the Offer, but desired to delay 
 its accomplishment, till he could procure, if 
 possible, the honors of a Duchess, at the 
 Court of Versailles, for Mademoiselle de 
 Leczinska. 
 
 With that view, he actually made ap- 
 plications to obtain a Brevet of Duke for 
 the Count d'Estrees, his destined son-in-law, 
 though without success ; Fortune reserving 
 for her the first Diadem in Europe. Her 
 principal recommendation consisted in her 
 want of personal attractions, the humility of 
 her condition, and the obligation to Gratitude 
 which she must naturally feel for the authors 
 of so wonderful a change in her Fortune. In. 
 fact, Nature had neither bestowed on her 
 Beauty, Elegance of manners, nor intellectual
 
 86 HISTORICAL 
 
 endowments of any kind. Even youth she 
 could scarcely be said comparatively to pos- 
 sess, as she was already twenty-three years 
 of age, while her destined husband was only 
 sixteen. We know not which to admire 
 most, the singularity of such a choice, or the 
 passive Apathy displayed by Louis, while his 
 Minister and Madame de Prie thus disposed 
 of his person. Maria Leczinska brought 
 him nothing, as a portion, on the day of her 
 nuptials, except modesty, virtue, and good- 
 ness of heart. Yet the young King, during 
 eleven or twelve years after his marriage, ex- 
 hibited a pattern of conjugal fidelity, which 
 stands strongly contrasted with Louis the 
 Fourteenth's dissolute amours, at the same 
 period of life; though Maria Theresa, daugh- 
 ter of Philip the Fourth, could boast of 
 much superior personal Charms to the Polish 
 Princess. The Duchess de la Valiere, Ma- 
 dame de Montespan, and Madame de Fon- 
 tanges, disputed for the possession of Louis 
 the Fourteenth's youth. Jt was not 'till 
 Louis the Fifteenth had passed his thirtieth 
 year, that after becoming successively ena- 
 moured of the Duchess de Chateau-roux 
 and her two Sisters, he sunk first into the 
 arms of the Marchioness de Pompadour,
 
 MEMOIRS. 87 
 
 and in his old Age resigned himself to the 
 disgraceful Chains of the Countess du Barry. 
 
 The Duke de Bourbon's and Madame de 
 Prie's period of power, proved nevertheless 
 of short duration. He was banished in 1726, 
 to Chantilly, and at that point of time com- 
 mences Cardinal Fleury's Administration. 
 It lasted nearly as long as Richlieu's Minis- 
 try had done; namely, about seventeen years; 
 and though Fleury was far inferior in strength 
 of character, resources, and energy, to his 
 great predecessor, yet may France justly feel 
 for him equal gratitude. Pacific, economical, 
 unostentatious, and mild, he seemed made 
 to heal the wounds inflicted on their Coun- 
 try* by the Ambition of Louis the Four- 
 teenth, and the Excesses of the Regent. If 
 Richlieu, as we are assured from contempo- 
 rary authority, ventured to raise his eyes to 
 Anne of Austria, arid to make her proposi- 
 tions of a libertine nature ; it is equally a 
 fact, however incredible it may appear, that 
 Fleury, then above seventy years of age, 
 carried his presumption still farther with 
 respect to Maria Leczinska. That Princess, 
 conscious nevertheless of the ascendant 
 which the Cardinal had obtained over her
 
 88 HISTORICAL 
 
 Husband, possessed too much prudence to 
 communicate to him, in the first instance, 
 the subject of her complaint. She wisely 
 preferred making a Confidant of her father, 
 To Stanislaus she therefore revealed the te- 
 merity of the aged Minister, and besought 
 him to give her his advice for her conduct, 
 particularly on the Propriety of her ac- 
 quainting Louis with the circumstance. Sta- 
 nislaus exhorted her, in reply, to. bury the 
 secret in her own bosom ; observing at the 
 same time, that Sovereign Princesses are 
 placed on such an eminence, as almost to 
 render it impossible for any disrespectful 
 propositions to be made them, unless they 
 encourage to a certain degree, such advances. 
 The Queen was discreet enough to adopt 
 this judicious and paternal counsel. If I 
 had not received the Anecdote here related, 
 from a person, whose intimacy with the in- 
 dividuals composing the Court of France at 
 that time, joined to his rank and high cha- 
 racter, left no doubt of its authenticity, I 
 should not venture to recount the fact. 
 
 To Louis the Fifteenth, France stands in- 
 debted for the acquisition of Lorrain, a Ter- 
 ritory of inestimable value ; perhaps surpas-
 
 MEMOIRS. 89 
 
 sing in real importance, any augmentation of 
 the French Dominions made by arms, within 
 the three last Centuries. Henry the Second 
 had conquered Metz, Toul, and Verdun, 
 from the German .Empire ; besides re-annex- 
 ing Calais, so long held by the English 
 Princes. The Counties of Bugey and Bresse, 
 covering the Borders on the side of Savoy, 
 were gained by Henry the Fourth. His son, 
 Louis the Thirteenth, or more properly to 
 speak, the Cardinal de Richlieu, added Rou- 
 sillon and Cerdagne, situate at one extre- 
 mity of the Kingdom, towards Catalonia; 
 while in another Quarter, he reduced Artois 
 and Alsace to the French Obedience. Lastly, 
 Louis the Fourteenth, in the course of his 
 long, ambitious, and sanguinary Career, ex- 
 ceeding in duration seventy years, not only 
 enlarged or strengthened his frontier along 
 the Rhine ; but augmented his Territories by 
 the addition of Franche Comte, and of a 
 vast portion of Flanders. Yet may we justly 
 doubt, whether any of these acquisitions con- 
 ferred such strength and security, as the pos- 
 session of Lorrain. When we reflect on the 
 beauty and extent of that fine Province, 
 stretching into the midst of France; conti- 
 guous on the East to Germany, while on the
 
 90 HISTORICAL 
 
 West, its limits approached Paris itself; 
 we must own that the French seem ungrate- 
 ful to the memory of a Prince, who by his 
 Arms and Negotiations succeeded in retain- 
 ing such a tract of Country. It affixed the 
 seal to every preceding effort made by their 
 Kings or Ministers, for the security, great- 
 ness, and protection of France; leaving unac- 
 complished no object of wise Ambition. Nor 
 can we too severely censure the inert, or par- 
 simonious and narrow policy of Walpole, in 
 permitting Cardinal Fleury to illustrate his 
 Administration by such an act. France did 
 not indeed, instantly take possession in her 
 own name, of the Duchies of Lorrain and 
 Bar. Fortune, after raising Maria Leczins- 
 ka to the Throne of France, conferred on 
 her father, in recompence for his ideal Polish 
 Crown, those fertile Provinces; the enjoy- 
 ment and revenues of which, were secured to 
 him for his life. Such a substitution was in 
 fact exchanging the armour of Diomed, for 
 that of Glaucus ; a barren Sceptre, for one of 
 Gold. 
 
 Stanislaus, when this event took place in 
 1736, was already nearly sixty, and he remain- 
 ed during thirty years, Duke of Lorrain. His
 
 MEMOIRS. 91 
 
 Administration, mild, beneficent, and liberal, 
 rendered him beloved by his new subjects. 
 He embellished Nancy, the Capital ; but he 
 held his Court and residence principally at 
 Luneville, where he expired in consequence 
 of a singular accident, having been burnt to 
 death. Charles, King of Navarre, surnamed 
 the Bad, perished nearly in the same manner, 
 about four Centuries earlier, at Pampeluna. 
 The late Lady Mary Churchill, Sir Robert 
 Walpole's daughter, who then resided with 
 her husband at Luneville, has more than once 
 recounted to me all the particulars of Stanis- 
 laus's end. Mr. Churchill and Lady Mary, 
 who lived in habits of intimacy with him, 
 dined at his Villa of Bon Secours, a short 
 distance from Luneville, on the day pre- 
 ceding the Catastrophe which terminated 
 his life. She assured me, that though ex- 
 tremely bent with age and infirmities, being 
 then near eighty-nine years old, he retained 
 both his faculties and his good humour. 
 Naturally gallant, he had a nominal Mistress, 
 the Marchioness de Boufflers, who occupied 
 a part of the Palace of Luneville, and to 
 whom he was much attached ; though he ma- 
 nifested neither jealousy nor dissatisfaction at 
 her preference of a younger Rival. His own
 
 92 HISTORICAL 
 
 Chancellor had contrived to insinuate himself 
 into Madame de Boufflers' favour ; a fact of 
 which the King was not ignorant. Taking 
 leave of her, one evening, when retiring to 
 his Apartment, after embracing her, " Mon 
 Chancelier^ added he, " vous dira le restef 
 a jocose allusion to the words with which, as 
 is well known, the French Sovereigns, when 
 holding a Bed of Justice, always finish their 
 Harangues. Stanislaus, during the last years 
 of his life, withdrew to rest every night, at 
 nine o'Clock, and his departure constituted 
 the signal for commencing Faro. All the 
 persons of both sexes, composing his Court 
 and Household, then sat down to that in- 
 fatuating Game, which was continued without 
 intermission, to a late hour. But, a circum- 
 stance seemingly incredible is, that the rage 
 for it became such, as to attract by degrees 
 to the Table, all the Domestics of the Palace, 
 down to the very Turnspits or Scullions ; who 
 crowding round, staked their Ecus on the 
 Cards, over the heads of the company. Such 
 a fact sufficiently proves the relaxation of 
 manners which prevailed in the Court of 
 Lorrain, under Stanislaus. 
 
 His Death, as Lady Mary Churchill related
 
 MEMOIRS. 93 
 
 it to me, took place in February, 1766, in 
 the following manner. The old King, who, 
 like the Poles and Germans, was much ad- 
 dicted to smoaking Tobacco, usually finished 
 several pipes, every day. Being alone, in an 
 undress, while endeavouring to knock out the 
 ashes from his pipe, he set fire to his Gown ; 
 and his Valet de Chambre, who alone exercised 
 the privilege of entering his Apartment, had 
 unfortunately just gone into the Town of 
 Luneville. His cries were not immediately 
 heard; but when they reached the Officer 
 stationed on guard in the outward room, he 
 flew to the King's assistance; and having 
 contrived to throw him down on the floor, 
 the flames were speedily extinguished. He 
 might even have survived and recovered the 
 accident, if it had not been accompanied 
 with a singular circumstance. Stanislaus, 
 who during the last years of his life, 
 
 cum Numina nobis 
 
 Mors instans majora facit, 
 
 had become devout ; as a Penance for his 
 Transgressions, constantly wore under his 
 Shirt, next to his flesh, a " Reliquaire," or 
 Girdle, made of Silver, having points on the 
 inside, from space to space. These points
 
 94 HISTORICAL 
 
 becoming heated, and being pressed into his 
 Body, while in the act of extinguishing the 
 fire, caused a number of wounds or sores ; 
 the discharge from which, at his advanced 
 Age, proved too severe for his enfeebled 
 Constitution. Conscious that his end ap- 
 proached, and only a short time before it 
 took place, he expressed a warm desire to 
 see Mr. Churchill and Lady Mary. They 
 having immediately waited on him, the King 
 received them with great complacency, and 
 with perfect self-possession; took leave of 
 them most cheerfully ; remarked the singu- 
 larity of his fortune throughout life; and 
 added, alluding to the strange mariner of his 
 Death, " 11 ne manquoit quune pareille Mort, 
 pour un Avanturier comme moi" He soon 
 afterwards expired ; retaining his senses and 
 understanding almost to the last moments of 
 his existence. 
 
 If Louis the Fifteenth, by the Peace of 
 1736, acquired Lorrain for France, he co- 
 vered himself and his Country with military 
 Glory, during the War that commenced in 
 1741, on the Death of the Emperor Charles 
 the Sixth. Fleury was no more; he and 
 Walpole having finished their political Ca- 
 reers, nearly about the same time. History
 
 \ MEMOIRS. 95 
 
 Can present, in no period of the World, an 
 instance of a first Minister commencing his 
 Administration, like Fleury, at seventy-three 
 years of age, and retaining his power till he 
 was ninety. Such a fact must, indeed, be 
 considered as an exception to the general 
 laws of nature, moral as well as physical. 
 Cardinal Ximenes in Spain, who approached 
 the nearest to him, died at eighty-one ; and 1 
 believe, the Count de Maurepas, under Louis 
 the Sixteenth, almost attained to a similar 
 Age. In 1744, the year after Fleury's de- 
 cease, Louis was seized, at Metz, with a 
 fever, which nearly proved fatal. If he had 
 expired at that time, as was expected to 
 happen every Moment, during several suc- 
 cessive Days, his memory would have been 
 embalmed in the hearts of his subjects, and 
 of mankind. Never were more ardent, or 
 more universal Vows offered up to Heaven 
 by the Roman People, for the recovery of 
 Germanicus, or for the Preservation of Titus, 
 than were made by the French Nation, for 
 his restoration! They were unfortunately 
 heard, and we are forced to exclaim with 
 Juvenal, 
 
 " Provida Pompeio dederat Campania Febres 
 Optandas : sed multae Urbes, et publica Vota 
 Vicerunt."
 
 96 HISTORICAL 
 
 Though Louis, like Pompey, survived 
 these testimonies of popular favour, yet, dur- 
 ing the whole course of that War, down to 
 its termination in 1748, he continued to de- 
 serve, and to retain, the affections of the Na- 
 tion. Four brilliant and triumphant Cam- 
 paigns, in one of which he was personally 
 present, rendered him Master of all the Aus- 
 trian Netherlands. The military Trophies 
 of Marlborough, erected forty years earlier 
 on the same plains, were lost at Fontenoy, 
 at Raucoux, and at Lafeldt. Greater by his 
 Moderation, than even by his Conquests, 
 Louis gave Peace to Europe at Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle, when Holland lay open to his attack ; 
 and when Mr. Pelham, who was then at 
 the head of the Councils of England, pos- 
 sessed neither pecuniary nor military re- 
 sources for maintaining the Contest. Louis 
 the Fourteenth may undoubtedly have in- 
 spired more terror at certain periods of his 
 reign ; but never excited more respect, than 
 did his Successor at the Conclusion of the 
 great War, which took place on the acces- 
 sion of Maria Theresa. 
 
 It forms a curious subject of reflection, 
 that the Armies of France, during this splen- 
 did portion of Louis the Fifteenth's reign,
 
 MEMOIRS. 97 
 
 when he thus over-ran the Low Countries, 
 were commanded by Foreigners. To Conde, 
 Turenne, and Luxembourg, had succeeded 
 Catinat, Vendome, Boufflers, and Villars: 
 but these last Generals left no successors. 
 In 1 734, Villars, at near four-score, remained 
 the sole survivor of those illustrious Com- 
 manders, who, from Rocroi down to Denain, 
 from 1643 to 1712, had carried victory over 
 so many Countries of Europe. An English- 
 man, the Duke of Berwick, natural Son of 
 James the Second by Arabella Churchill, 
 Sister of the great Duke of Marlborough, 
 was placed at the head of the French forces 
 on the Rhine, in 1734 : while a German and 
 a Dane subjected Flanders to Louis the Fif- 
 teenth, between 1743 and 1748. Marshal 
 Saxe, the former of these Generals, attained 
 a military reputation hardly exceeded by any 
 individual in modern Times. Lowendahl, 
 the other, was immortalized by the Capture 
 of Bergen-op-Zoom, then regarded as the 
 most impregnable fortress on the Continent. 
 Both survived the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 only a few years. I have been in the Apart- 
 ment of the Palace of Chambord, near Blois, 
 where Marshal Saxe expired in November, 
 1750; extenuated by pleasures which bad 
 VOL. i. H
 
 98 HISTORICAL 
 
 enervated his Herculean Frame, and pro- 
 duced his premature end, at fifty-four years 
 of age. The natural son of Augustus the 
 Second, King of Poland, and Elector of 
 Saxony, by the beautiful Countess of Konigs- 
 mark, he inherited from his father, an extra- 
 ordinary degree of bodily Strength; but, 
 like Milo in Antiquity, 
 
 " Viribus ille 
 Contisus periit, admirandisque Lacertis." 
 
 At Chambord, where he maintained a 
 magnificent Establishment during the two 
 last Years of his Life, he constantly enter- 
 tained a company of Comedians, as a So- 
 vereign Prince. Mademoiselle Chantilly, an 
 Actress and a Dancer in high reputation at 
 Paris, having, from her personal Beauty, no 
 less than from her theatrical Merit, attracted 
 the Marshal's attention ; had, some years 
 earlier, accompanied him on his Campaigns 
 in the Netherlands, as his Mistress. While 
 he was engaged in the Siege of Maestricht, 
 Favart, a man who had found means to ren- 
 der himself Master of her Affections, carried 
 her off to Paris. After the Termination of 
 the "War, Marshal Saxe caused proposals 
 to be made her, for repairing to Chambord*
 
 MEMOIRS. 99 
 
 to perform on his Theatre. But she, who 
 was married to Favart, knowing the Mar- 
 shal's designs, rejected all his offers. In 
 this Dilemma, determined again to gain pos- 
 session of her, he applied to Monsieur de 
 Berruyer, then Lieutenant de Police, request- 
 ing him to compel her to visit Chambord. 
 Berruyer, desirous of obliging Marshal Saxe, 
 made use of every Argument, and enforced 
 them by very ample pecuniary offers. Find- 
 ing, however, all his exertions fruitless, he 
 sent her a Lettre de Cachet, ordering her 
 immediately to Prison, or to Chambord. We 
 must own that this atrocious abuse of power, 
 which reminds us of Appius Claudius and 
 Virginia, in the Consular Ages of Rome; 
 excites indignation against a Minister capa- 
 ble of thus prostituting his official Functions, 
 in order to gratify the depraved and licen- 
 tious Appetites of an exhausted Voluptuary. 
 Thus pressed between imprisonment and the 
 sacrifice of her person, she preferred the 
 latter expedient ; as many other Women 
 might have done under her Circumstances, 
 without perhaps incurring either any deep 
 degree of Culpability, or exciting any strong 
 emotions of moral Reprobation. Pity, in- 
 deed, rather than Condemnation, arises in 
 H 2
 
 100 HISTORICAL 
 
 the mind of every liberal Man, OK- such a 
 recital. It is difficult to relate the sequel of 
 the story, without involuntarily wounding 
 Decorum : yet may the Moral that it contains, 
 almost apologize for such a deviation, or in 
 some degree even demand it. Madame Fa- 
 vart having been reluctantly conducted to the 
 Marshal's Bed, afterwards expressed herself 
 with some contempt respecting him. Piqued 
 at the insinuation, he had recourse to those 
 Expedients, which Pope, one of the most 
 correct of modern Poets, who exclaims, 
 
 " Curst be the Verse, how soft soe'er it flow, 
 That tends to make one Honest Man my Foe ; 
 Give Virtue Scandal, Innocence a Fear, 
 Or from the soft-eyed Virgin steal a Tear ;" 
 
 yet has not hesitated to enumerate in his 
 Poem of " January and May." The aux- 
 iliary proved too powerful for the principal, 
 and produced his Death within a short time. 
 He expired nearly in the same manner as 
 the Regent Duke of Orleans had done, about 
 twenty-five years earlier ; a Prince, to whom, 
 both in his virtues, his endowments of mind, 
 and his defects or vices, Marshal Saxe exhi- 
 bited some Analogy.
 
 MEMOIRS. 101 
 
 Lotuis .the Fifteenth not only occupied the 
 most distinguished place among the European 
 Sovereigns and Powers, during the period of 
 nearly eight years, which intervened between 
 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the com- 
 mencement of the War of 1756; but, for a con- 
 siderable time subsequent to that rupture, 
 every success obtained was on the side of 
 France. Beyond the Atlantic, in the Mediter- 
 ranean, in Germany, as well as on the French 
 Coasts and Shores, her Arms maintain- 
 ed their ascendancy. Mezerai, or Voltaire, 
 might have expatiated with exultation and 
 pleasure, on the events of Minorca, of Ticon- 
 derago, of Brad dock's Defeat in Carolina, of 
 Closter-seven, of St. Cas, and of Rochfort; 
 as, on the other hand, assuredly neither 
 Hume nor Smollet could have derived from 
 the narration of those unfortunate or disgrace- 
 ful Transactions, any subject of Triumph. 
 That Louis, no less than his People, sunk 
 under the energies of the first Mr. Pitt, be- 
 tween 1759 and 1762, must be admitted: 
 but, all the atchievements of that great Mi- 
 nister, in both Hemispheres, on the land and 
 on the water, from the Philippines to Cuba, 
 and from Cape Breton to Senegal, were sa- 
 crificed at the peace of Fontainbleau. We 
 gseemed to have humbled the two Branches
 
 10*2 HISTORICAL 
 
 of the House of Bourbon, only to re-con- 
 struct their fallen power : restoring all that 
 we ought in wisdom to have retained : and 
 retaining or acquiring all that in policy we 
 should have surrendered to France and Spain. 
 Witness Canada and Florida, which we pre- 
 served ! Witness the Havanna, Martinique, 
 Guadaloupe, and so many other Islands or 
 Settlements which we ceded ; not to include 
 in the list, Manilla, a capture unknown to 
 the British Ministry who signed the Treaty, 
 and of which the ransom has never been 
 paid, down to the present moment! Even 
 the popularity of George the Third, sustained 
 by the most irreproachable and exemplary 
 display of private virtues, could not stand the 
 shock of such a Peace; which covered him 
 with nearly as much Obloquy, as that of 
 Utrecht had inflicted on Queen Anne. 
 
 France, from 1763 to 1770, repaired her 
 losses ; and while her Councils were guided 
 by the vigorous, as well as enterprizing Mind 
 of Choiseul, Louis the Fifteenth, however 
 vanquished he might have been in the pre- 
 ceding contest, re-appeared with at least as 
 much Dignity on the Theatre of Europe, as 
 Louis the Fourteenth had done after the War 
 of the Succession. Choiseul, secure on the
 
 MEMOIRS. 103 
 
 side of Flanders and of Germany, by the Al- 
 liance subsisting with the House of Austria 
 since 1756, extended succours to the Polish 
 Insurgents, against Catherine the Second; 
 laid the foundations of the Swedish Revolu- 
 tion, which Was effected by Gustavus the 
 Third in 1 772; and reduced to the Obedience 
 of his Master, the Island of Corsica, nearly 
 about the time when that Country gave Birth 
 to a Man, whose relentless and insatiable 
 Ambition or Vengeance, have equally laid 
 waste the Territory of France, and polluted 
 by his Crimes, or converted into a Desert, the 
 most flourishing Kingdoms of the Continent. 
 The universal abhorrence excited by his 
 Atrocities, renders it unnecessary to name a 
 Monster, whose very existence, and still 
 more, whose favoured place of retreat, an 
 Island situate on the delicious shore of Tus- 
 cany, midway between Leghorn and Toulon, 
 surrounded by the Splendor of a Prince, 
 seem to reproach the justice, no less than the 
 policy, of the European Powers.* 
 
 * The Events which have taken Place since the Autumn 
 of 1814, when these Remarks were made on the Selection 
 of the Isle of Elba for Bonaparte's Residence, have too well 
 proved their Solidity.
 
 104 HISTORICAL 
 
 Louis the Fifteenth, like his Predecessor, 
 survived his only Son ; justifying the Roman 
 Poet's remark on the evils that accompany 
 and characterize longevity, when he says, 
 
 " Haec data Poena diu viventibus, ut renovata 
 Semper clade Domus, multis in luctibus, inque 
 Perpetuo Moerore, et nigra veste senescaot." 
 
 The Dauphin Louis died at Fontainbleau, 
 towards the end of 1765, at the age of about 
 thirty-six. Whether we consider his Death 
 abstractedly, with reference to his Character 
 and mental qualities ; or whether we try it 
 by the calamitous reign of his son, which 
 may be said, without a Metaphor, to have 
 brought France to the Block ; we must be 
 compelled to regard the Dauphin's prema~ 
 ture End, as one of the most unfortunate 
 events which could have taken place for the 
 French Monarchy, and for the House of 
 Bourbon, It was produced, as I have been 
 assured by persons who had frequent access 
 to him, and who enjoyed a distinguished 
 place in his confidence; from the effect o*f 
 Medicines which he took, in order to repel 
 or to disperse an eruption that appeared 
 near his Mouth. He was supposed to have
 
 MEMOIRS. 105 
 
 caught the Disorder from his wife the Dau- 
 phiness, a Princess of Saxony, daughter of 
 Augustus the Third, King of Poland, who 
 had a violent scorbutic humour in her Blood. 
 Malignity proceeded so far, as even to accuse 
 the King his Father of having caused the 
 Dauphin's death, by administering to him 
 slow poison; a circumstance principally 
 founded on the state of extenuation and lan- 
 guor to which he was reduced, during the 
 long malady that brought him to the Grave ; 
 but, for which atrocious imputation, not the 
 slightest foundation existed in truth. 
 
 Louis the Fifteenth, though naturally in- 
 dolent, as well as afterwards dissolute; and 
 though he became, like Tiberius, profligate 
 towards the close of his life ; manifested no 
 cruelty, nor systematic atrocity of character. 
 He neither resembled Louis the Eleventh, 
 nor Bonaparte. His Son possessed firmness 
 of mind, and a solid understanding, culti- 
 vated by polite letters. For the society of 
 Men distinguished by Talents of any kind, 
 the Dauphin displayed as strong a partiality, 
 as the King betrayed a Disinclination, 
 throughout his whole reign. Devout, and 
 in some degree tinctured with Bigotry, he
 
 106 HISTORICAL 
 
 nevertheless sought occasions of conversing 
 with individuals, known to have embraced 
 ideas adverse to the Catholic Faith, as well 
 as subversive of revealed Religion. With 
 David Hume, then Secretary to the English 
 Embassy at Paris, and at the summit of his 
 literary reputation; or as the " Heroic Epis- 
 tle" says, " drunk with Gallic Wine, and 
 " Gallic Praise;" the Dauphin, not a great 
 while before his decease, held a long conver- 
 sation, principally turning on points connect- 
 ed with philosophical Disquisition. When 
 Hume was presented to him, "I know," 
 said he, " that you hold very free opinions 
 " on matters connected with Revelation ; 
 " but my principles are fixed, and therefore 
 " speak out to me; for otherwise i should 
 " only be conversing with a man in a Mask." 
 He was the third Dauphin in hereditary de- 
 scent, who had attained to manhood without 
 ascending the French Throne, within the 
 short space of fifty-four years. His Death 
 was followed, at no long interval of time, by 
 that of the Dauphiness his widow, and the 
 Queen his mother; leaving Louis the Fi 
 teenth at nearly sixty, surrounded by his 
 Daughters, and his Grandchildren.
 
 MEMOIRS. 107 
 
 Unquestionably, the four last years of his 
 reign were passed in a manner worthy of Sar- 
 danapalus; oblivious of his public Duties, 
 insensible to national Glory, and lost to every 
 sentiment of private Virtue, or even of De- 
 corum. From the instant that, dismissing 
 Choiseul from his Councils, and rejecting 
 the favorable opportunity offered him by the 
 dispute which arose between England and 
 Spain, relative to the Falkland Islands, for 
 recovering the Honor, as well as the Terri- 
 tories, lost by France during the preceding 
 War ; he abandoned himself to pleasures no 
 longer suited to his age ; from that moment, 
 he became an object of Contempt and Op- 
 probrium to his own Subjects. Unfortunate- 
 ly for his Fame, he has been principally tried 
 and estimated by this inglorious portion of 
 his life. Yet, even while the Dukes of Ai- 
 guillon and of Richlieu directed public 
 Affairs, while the Great Seal of France was 
 entrusted to Maupeou, while the Finances 
 were abandoned to the Abb6 Terray, and 
 while a Woman of the most libertine descrip- 
 tion, Madame du Barry, presided over his 
 looser Hours ; he at least exerted some proofs 
 of vigor in his treatment of the Parliaments 
 of his Kingdom, whom he controled and
 
 108 HISTORICAL 
 
 banished: unlike his yielding Successor, who 
 suffered himself to be overwhelmed under 
 the progressive effects of popular Innovation. 
 
 When we compare the concluding years 
 of Louis the Fourteenth's reign, from 1712, 
 to 1715, with the termination of his great 
 Grandson's life, from 1770 to 1774; we shall 
 see that the Court was alike, in both in- 
 stances, completely under female control. 
 It would indeed be as unjust to place Ma- 
 dame du Barry in competition with Madame 
 de Maintenon ; as to elevate Thais or Cam- 
 paspe, to a level with Aspasia, or with Livia. 
 Yet did the Palace and Court of the former 
 Prince, exhibit as degrading a scene of min- 
 gled Hypocrisy, Bigotry, and Superstition ; 
 as Versailles displayed a spectacle of De- 
 bauch and licentious Pleasure, under the 
 latter Sovereign. If it were permitted to 
 cite as authority for this assertion, the 
 " Pucelle" of Voltaire; a Poem no less cap- 
 tivating from its wit, than dangerous from its 
 spirit and tendency ; but, the historical Por- 
 traits scattered throughout which produc- 
 tion, are sketched with admirable ability, by 
 a master hand ; we might there behold the 
 ignominious figure which " the Phoenix of
 
 MEMOIRS. 109 
 
 the Bourbons" presented in the evening of 
 his life, surrounded by Devotees, Priests, 
 and Monks, 
 
 " Hercule en Froc, et Priape en Soutane." 
 
 Louis the Fifteenth, during his last years, 
 excites nevertheless more disgust than his 
 Predecessor, because it is unqualified by 
 any sentiment of pity, or of respect. His 
 Death, which took place under these circum- 
 stances, was hailed by the French, as the 
 j(Era of their liberation from a yoke equally 
 disgraceful and severe : while the new Reign 
 awakened in a Nation characterized by its 
 superficial or sanguine frame of mind, the 
 most extravagant visions of future felicity. 
 We may however safely assume that Louis 
 the Fifteenth, who had refused to join Charles 
 the Third of Spain in 1770, when every cir- 
 cumstance invited him to a rupture with 
 England; and who was known to have taken 
 an unalterable determination of terminating 
 his life in peace ; we may be assured that 
 such a Prince, at sixty-eight or seventy, 
 would not have sent La Fayette and Ro- 
 chambeau across the Atlantic, there to im- 
 bibe the principles of Rebellion and Re-
 
 110 HISTORICAL 
 
 publicanism, with which they returned to 
 inoculate France, and to subvert the Throne. 
 Louis the Sixteenth, only four years after 
 his Accession, in 1778, embraced, though 
 against his own judgment, this pernicious 
 and improvident measure, from which, in an 
 eminent degree, flowed the destruction of his 
 House. So true is it, that 
 
 " Evertere Domos totas, optantibus ipsis, 
 DJ faciles." 
 
 We cannot reflect without some surprise, 
 that Louis the Fifteenth manifested more at- 
 tention during his last illness, to the well- 
 being and support of Madame du Barry, his 
 Mistress, after his decease; than his Prede- 
 cessor displayed for Madame de Maintenon, 
 to whom he had been united near thirty 
 years, by the legitimate ties of Marriage. 
 Scarron's Widow possessed nothing as her 
 own individual property, on the first of Sep- 
 tember, 1715, when Louis the Fourteenth 
 breathed his last, except the Estate of Main- 
 tenon, in the Vicinity of Paris, which she had 
 purchased ; and a Pension from the Crown, 
 of two thousand Louis d'Ors a year: while 
 the former, besides the immense pecuniary
 
 MEMOIRS. ill 
 
 gratifications which she had received from 
 her Royal Lover during the period of her 
 favor, was presented by him with the beau- 
 tiful Chateau and Estate of Lusienne, situate 
 near Marly. Yet Louis the Fourteenth, be- 
 fore he expired, contented himself with only 
 recommending his future widow, to the pro- 
 tection of the Duke of Orleans. His Suc- 
 cessor, on the contrary, at an early period 
 of his disorder, after expressing the utmost 
 anxiety respecting his Mistress, delivered into 
 the Duke d'Aiguillon's hands, confidentially 
 for her use in the event of his own Decease, 
 a Port-Folio containing in Notes, the sum of 
 three Millions of Livres, or about one hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand Pounds Sterling. 
 The Duke, with the true Spirit of a Courtier, 
 carried this Deposit to the new King. 
 
 At sixty-four, Louis the Fifteenth died of 
 the small-pox, at Versailles ; as his Grand- 
 father, the Dauphin, only Son of Louis the 
 Fourteenth, was carried off at the Palace 
 of Meudon, by the same Malady, in 1711. 
 While any reasonable expectations of his re- 
 covery were entertained, Madame du Barry 
 continued her attendance about his person ; 
 every idea of the nature of his Disease, being
 
 112 HISTORICAL 
 
 studiously concealed from him : nor was he 
 permitted to regard himself in a looking- 
 Glass, lest he should discover the change 
 effected in his countenance, by the Pustules 
 which covered his face. The Duke de Rich- 
 lieu even kept guard at the Door of his Bed- 
 chamber, to prevent the intrusion of any 
 Priest or Ecclesiastic who might procure ad- 
 mission, and by warning him of his danger, 
 awaken his apprehensions of Eternity. But, 
 no sooner was his alarming situation under- 
 stood, and the apparent improbability of his 
 surviving the attack of so malignant a Dis- 
 temper, became disseminated abroad; than 
 Madame Louisa of France, the King's young- 
 est daughter, who had taken the Veil as a 
 Carmelite Nun, quitting the Convent of which 
 she was Prioress at St. Denis, repaired to 
 Versailles. With irresistible importunity she 
 demanded admittance to her Father, whom 
 she admonished of his perilous state, and 
 impending Dissolution : he was already sink- 
 ing under the ravages of the Disease, which 
 left no hope of his surmounting its violence. 
 Madame du Barry had been sent away some 
 Days before, to Lusienne. The King ex- 
 pired in a narrow white Bed, placed be- 
 tween two windows of his Apartment, which
 
 MEMOIRS. 113 
 
 were constantly kept open on account of the 
 heat of the Weather, though the Season of 
 the year was by no means advanced, it being 
 only the 10th day of May, 1774. These par- 
 ticulars have all been related to me, not long 
 after they took place, by a Gentleman, one 
 of his Pages, who attended him throughout 
 the whole course of his Disorder. 
 
 It is obvious, after a Consideration of these 
 Facts, that the successor of Louis the Fif 
 teenth must have ascended the Throne under 
 the most favourable Auspices. To the ma- 
 jesty of the first European Crown, he added 
 the brilliancy of opening Life, not having 
 yet completed his twentieth year. But, 
 though young, Louis possessed neither the 
 Graces, the activity, nor the elasticity of 
 mind, usually characteristic of Youth. Hea- 
 vy, inert, inclined to Corpulency, and des- 
 titute of all aptitude for any exercises of the 
 body, except Hunting; he seemed, like James 
 the First of England, unfit for appearing in 
 the Field. His manners were shy ; a na- 
 tural result of his neglected Education ; 
 which made Madame du Barry commonly 
 call him, during his Grandfather's life, " Le 
 gros Gar$on, inal &lev&" Yet never did any 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 HISTORICAL 
 
 Prince manifest more rectitude of intention, 
 greater probity, or a warmer desire to ad- 
 vance the felicity of his people. Nor was 
 his Understanding by any means inadequate 
 to fulfilling those beneficent designs. He 
 even endeavoured, at an early period of his 
 reign, to repair the want of preceding In- 
 struction, by intense private application. 
 For Geography, he displayed an uncommon 
 passion; and it is well known, that none of 
 his Ministers equalled him in that branch of 
 Knowledge. Before 1 778, when the French 
 Cabinet embraced the injudicious determi- 
 nation of aiding the Americans, by sending 
 out D'Estaign with a Fleet to their support ; 
 the King had rendered himself so perfect a 
 master of the Topography of the Trans-at- 
 lantic Continent, that from the River St. 
 Laurence, to the Southern extremity of Flo- 
 rida, not a head-land, a Bay, a River, or 
 almost an Inlet, were unknown to him. 
 Warmly attached to the Queen his wife, and 
 indisposed to Connexions of Gallantry, his 
 nuptial fidelity could admit of no dispute; 
 and in all the relations of domestic life, he 
 might be esteemed not only blameless, but 
 meritorious. George the Third could hardly 
 lay claim to higher moral esteem and appro- 
 bation, in his private Character.
 
 MEMOIRS. 115 
 
 Impressed with deep sentiments of filial 
 piety, and of respect for the memory, as well 
 as for the precepts or advice, of his Father 
 the Dauphin; he selected his Ministers in 
 compliance with that Prince's written instruc- 
 tions, which he had carefully preserved, and 
 religiously obeyed. Those instructions im- 
 pelled him to place the Count de Maurepas at 
 the head of the new Administration, though 
 that Nobleman had then attained a very ad- 
 vanced period of life. He was indeed as old 
 as the Cardinal de Fleury, when he assumed 
 the management of Affairs, having attained 
 his seventy-third year, in 1774; and having 
 passed the preceding twenty-five years in 
 exile, at Bourges, the obscure Capital of the 
 central and secluded Province of Berri. It 
 may however be justly questioned, whether 
 in this choice, Louis the Sixteenth was fortu- 
 nate. Maurepas, though a Man of superior 
 talents, who preserved in age, all the freshness 
 of his intellect; yet plunged his Country into 
 the Alliance with America, which proved 
 eventually, at no great distance of time, the 
 leading source of all the Revolutionary Ca- 
 lamities that have desolated France. In his 
 selection of Vergennes for the foreign Depart- 
 ment, the King apparently manifested more
 
 116 HISTORICAL 
 
 discernment. I was at Stockholm, in June, 
 1774, when the Courier, who brought the in- 
 telligence of Louis the Fifteenth's Death, de- 
 livered to Monsieur de Vergennes, then the 
 French Embassador at the Court of Sweden, 
 letters recalling him to Paris, in order to 
 form a Member of the Cabinet. Happily for 
 themselves, neither Maurepas nor Vergennes 
 survived to witness the Commencement of 
 
 , 
 
 the Revolution. 
 
 If a combination of almost all those qua- 
 lities or endowments, which in a private 
 station, conciliate esteem and excite respect, 
 could have secured to Louis the Sixteenth 
 a tranquil reign, he might justly have pre- 
 tended to that felicity. But, unfortunately, 
 he wanted the bolder and more affirmative 
 features of the mind, which confirm domi- 
 nion, repress or extinguish innovation, re- 
 tain the various classes of subjects in their 
 respective Orbits, inspire becoming appre- 
 hension, and preserve the Throne from in- 
 sult or attack. These defects had not in- 
 deed become apparent to the Nation at large, 
 as early as 1776 ; but they were not the less 
 obvious to such Individuals as had access 
 to his Person and Court. Perhaps, had he
 
 MEMOIRS. 117 
 
 succeeded in more tranquil Times, or if he 
 had been the immediate successor of Louis 
 the Fourteenth ; under whom, although the 
 Monarchy was convulsed, and had been al- 
 most overturned by foreign Enemies towards 
 the Conclusion of that Reign, yet the Monar- 
 chical principle and power remained firmly 
 rooted in public opinion; he might have 
 maintained himself in his elevation. JBut, 
 even before the commencement of the Am&- 
 rican War, Voltaire, Rousseau, and their Dis- 
 ciples, had undermined both the foundations 
 of the Throne and of the Altar, by inculcat- 
 ing philosophical Principles; which, however 
 fascinating in appearance, were calculated in 
 their results, to propel the inferior ranks upon 
 the upper Orders of Society. A spirit of dis- 
 quisition, of discontent, of complaint, and of 
 reform, which pervaded not only the mass of 
 the French Population, but, which had in^ 
 fected even the Army, the Navy, and how- 
 ever strange it may seem, the Church itself; 
 menaced the most alarming Consequences. 
 Henry the Fourth and Sully would have 
 anticipated and suppressed it in the Birth. 
 Louis the Thirteenth and Richlieu would 
 have combated and vanquished it in the 
 Field. Louis the Fourteenth and Louvois
 
 118 HISTORICAL 
 
 would have either dispersed, or have over- 
 awed and intimidated it, by Measures of 
 Vigor. Even the Regent Duke, Fleury, or 
 Choiseul, would not have supinely allowed 
 it to mature its destructive powers, till it 
 burst into a Conflagration. 
 
 If ever France stood in need of a strong, 
 and even a severe Ruler, it was at the death 
 of Louis the Fifteenth ; when the person of 
 the Prince, and the Throne itself, were alike, 
 although from different causes, fallen into 
 universal Contempt. A Sovereign of energy, 
 who had possessed military talents, and who 
 instead of breaking the Household Troops, 
 disarming the royal Authority, and then 
 imprudently convoking the States General ; 
 would have mounted on horseback, placed 
 a strong Garrison in the Bastile, arrested the 
 first instigators to Sedition, sent the Duke of 
 Orleans to the Castle of Vincennes, and put 
 himself at the head of his Army in the last 
 resort, against his rebellious Subjects; such 
 a King might have defied the Revolution. 
 But, Louis the Sixteenth laboured under a 
 double inaptitude, moral and physical He 
 was the only Monarch since Philip of Va- 
 lois, if not the single instance that occurs
 
 MEMOIRS. 119 
 
 since Hugh Capet, the Founder of the third 
 Dynasty, who never had, on any occasion, ap- 
 peared in person among his soldiers. Louis 
 the Fifteenth, and his Son the Dauphin, 
 though neither of them were distinguished 
 by martial ardor, yet assisted in the field, 
 made a nominal Campaign in the Nether- 
 lands ; and were stationed by Marshal Saxe 
 in such a manner, at the Battle of Fontenoy, 
 as at least to be spectators of, if not partici- 
 pators in, the Victory gained on that memor- 
 able Day. Their ill-fated Descendant could 
 never be propelled into such exertions, and 
 he even betrayed a dislike towards shewing 
 himself at the peaceful Ceremony of a Re- 
 view. 
 
 His personal Courage itself, whatever flat- 
 tery may assert, or candour may suggest, 
 was problematical. That he displayed pre- 
 sence of mind, Calmness, and contempt of 
 Death, when surrounded by a furious popu- 
 lace, in October, 1789, at Versailles, and 
 in June, 1792, at the Tuilleries, cannot be 
 disputed. But, on the Scaffold, in January, 
 1793, for the performance of which last act 
 he must nevertheless have been prepared, by 
 all the aids of Reflection, and all the supports
 
 120 HISTORICAL 
 
 of Religion ; he did not comport himself with 
 the serenity and self-possession that charac- 
 terized Charles the First, and Mary, Queen 
 of Scots, when laying down their Heads on 
 the Block. It must however be admitted 
 on the other hand, that the Guillotine, which 
 was only an atrocious revolutionary Engine, 
 invented, not so much to abbreviate the suf- 
 ferings of the condemned individual, as to 
 facilitate the despatch of a number of victims, 
 with certainty, in a shorter space of time; 
 bereaved Death of all its grace and dignity. 
 I have likewise seen and read very strong 
 attestations to the firmness, displayed by the 
 King of France in his last Moments. On the 
 26th of January, 1793, the day on which the 
 official account of his Execution arrived in 
 London ; being alone with the Duke of Dor- 
 set, who was then Lord Steward, at St. 
 James's Palace, he received a note, which he 
 immediately shewed me, and which I copied 
 on the spot. It contained these words :-~ 
 
 
 " Paris, 21st January, 12 o'Clock. 
 
 " The unfortunate Louis is no more. He suf- 
 fered Death this Morning, at ten o'Clock, with the 
 most heroic Courage." 
 
 " To the Duke of Dorset."
 
 MEMOIRS. 121 
 
 The note had no signature, but the Duke 
 told me, that he knew both the hand-writing 
 and the writer. Yet I have been assured that 
 Louis attempted to resist or impede the Exe- 
 cutioners ; who, impatient for obvious Rea- 
 sons, to finish the performance, used a degree 
 of violence, threw him down forcibly on the 
 plank, in which act his face was torn, and 
 finally thrust him under the Guillotine. 
 The Hope and Expectation of a Rescue, 
 which he unquestionably nourished down to 
 the last Moment, might, I am well aware, 
 explain the King's motive for protracting 
 the Time, without impeaching his Courage ; 
 and might throw an Air of Irresolution over 
 his Deportment. But, his Queen and his 
 Sister displayed more Decision. Marie 
 Antoinette, and Madame Elizabeth, each, 
 exhibited in turn, one, the Heroism of an 
 elevated mind, superior to Death; the other, 
 the calm resignation of a Saint and a Martyr, 
 under the same Circumstances. Even the 
 Duke of Orleans himself, covered as he was 
 with Crimes and Turpitudes, yet derived 
 from Despair a species of affirmative Courage, 
 hurried to the place of Execution, ascended 
 the Scaffold with Rapidity, and rushed upon 
 his fate.
 
 122 HISTORICAL 
 
 In the Summer of 1776, when I quitted 
 France, Marie Antoinette may be said to 
 have reached the summit of her Beauty, and 
 of her popularity. Her favor with the 
 Nation at large, declined from the period 
 of her Brother the Emperor Joseph the 
 Second's visit to Paris, in 1777 ; after which 
 interview between them, her enemies, with 
 equal falsity and malignity, accused her of sa- 
 crificing both the treasures and the interests 
 of the French Monarchy, to her Austrian 
 connexions. Her personal charms, which 
 Burke has overrated, consisted more in her 
 elevated manner, lofty demeanour, and Graces 
 of deportment, all which announced a Queen, 
 than in her features or Countenance, which 
 wanted softness and regularity. She had be- 
 sides weak, or rather, inflamed Eyes ; but, her 
 Complexion, which was dazzling, aided by 
 youth, and all the Decorations of Dress, in 
 which Ornaments she displayed great Taste, 
 imposed on the beholder. In the national 
 estimation, her greatest defect at this period 
 of life, consisted in her Sterility ; she having 
 been married full six years, without giving 
 any apparent prospect of issue. But, Anne 
 of Austria had remained nearly two and 
 twenty years uader the same reproach, be-
 
 MEMOIRS. , 123 
 
 fore she brought into the world Louis the 
 Fourteenth. The Count de Provence was 
 likewise destitute of any Children, though as 
 early as 1771 he had espoused a Daughter 
 of the King of Sardinia; while the Count 
 d'Artois, youngest of the three Brothers, 
 married to another Princess of Savoy, was 
 already become a father. His son, born in 
 1775, had been created Duke d'Angouleme. 
 Both the King and the Count de Provence 
 were then generally regarded, in different 
 ways, as equally inapt for the purposes of 
 Marriage. It had nevertheless been ascer- 
 tained, that Louis the Sixteenth laboured 
 under no impediment for perpetuating his 
 race, except a slight defect in his physical 
 Organization, easily susceptible of relief by 
 a surgical Operation; but, to undergo which, 
 he for a long time manifested great repug- 
 nance. The importance of the case, and the 
 pressing instances which were made to him, 
 having at length however surmounted his 
 scruples, he submitted to it ; and the Queen 
 lay in of a Daughter in December, 1778, 
 whose unmerited sufferings, filial Piety, and 
 heroic virtues, have justly endeared her to 
 all Europe. But, Marie Antoinette did not 
 till several years later, produce a Dauphin.
 
 124 HISTORICAL 
 
 Of the three Royal Brothers, the Count 
 d'Artois had been cast by Nature, in the most 
 graceful Mould. All the Dignity of Louis 
 the Fourteenth, had exclusively descended to 
 him. His elder Brother, the Count de Pro- 
 vence, who resembled the King in his person, 
 was less known to the Nation, in 1776, than 
 either of the others. Moderate in his charac- 
 ter, and of retired habits ; possessing a strong 
 mind, and a highly cultivated understanding, 
 but, destitute of brilliant or of dangerous ta- 
 lents, he approved himself on all occasions, 
 the most submissive of subjects. Both the 
 younger Princes resided constantly at Ver- 
 sailles, in a part of the Royal Palace; accom- 
 panied the King, whenever he repaired to 
 Compiegne or to Fontainbleau; commonly at- 
 tended him at Mass, as well as to the Chace ; 
 and never absented themselves, even on an 
 excursion to Paris, without his permission. 
 Philip, Duke de Chartres, too well known 
 to us by his vindictive and criminal political 
 intrigues, which at a more recent period have 
 conduced in so great a degree, to the subver- 
 sion of the House of Bourbon ; was already 
 fallen, at the Time of which 1 speak, under 
 the public condemnation or contempt. He 
 had then been married several years, to the
 
 MEMOIRS. 125 
 
 sole Daughter and Heiress of the Duke de 
 Penthievre, last male of the illegitimate De- 
 scendants of Louis the Fourteenth; and the 
 popular voice accused him of having plunged 
 the Prince de Lamballe, his Brother-in-law, 
 the Duke de Penthievre's only Son, into the 
 Debaucheries which terminated his life in 
 the flower of his age. That young Prince 
 espoused, at a very early period, one of 
 the Princesses of Carignan, collaterally de- 
 scended from the House of Savoy ; whose 
 tragical end in 1792, when she was massacred 
 at the Prison of La Force in Paris, forms a 
 revolting feature of the great Act of Blood, 
 denominated " The French Revolution." 
 
 As the Prince de Lamballe left no issue, 
 the Duke de Chartres was asserted to have 
 accelerated, or rather to have produced his 
 Death, from the sordid, as well as detestable 
 motive, of inheriting, in right of his Consort, 
 the vast Estates of Penthievre. However 
 destitute of proof, and perhaps even of just 
 foundation, may have been this imputation ; 
 yet the character and notorious profligacy 
 of the Duke, obtained for it universal Belief. 
 Affecting to emulate the Regent Duke of 
 Orleans, his great Grandfather's Example,
 
 126 HISTORICAL 
 
 whose Portrait was always suspended dose 
 to his Bed ; he only imitated that Prince in 
 the licentious depravity of his Manners, and 
 the abandoned nature of his Amours. The 
 Regent, whether in Italy, where he was 
 wounded in 1706, fighting desperately in 
 the Trenches before Turin ; in Spain, where 
 he commanded the French Armies with dis- 
 tinguished lustre ; or at home, while conduct- 
 ing the helm of Affairs, during the Minority 
 of Louis the Fifteenth ; whatever vices he dis- 
 played, redeemed them in some measure by 
 his valour, loyalty, and capacity. His dege- 
 nerate Descendant incurred the abhorrence 
 of all Europe, overturned the Throne of 
 France, perished by the Guillotine, and may 
 be esteemed the most atrocious, as well as 
 flagitious individual who has arisen in mo- 
 dern Ages, for the calamity of Mankind, with 
 the single exception of Bonaparte. 
 
 Returning to England, in the Summer of 
 1776, 1 went down soon afterwards on a visit 
 to Lord Nugent, at Gosfield in Essex; a Seat 
 which has since, in the revolutionary events 
 of the present Times, afforded a temporary 
 Asylum to the august Representative of the 
 Capetian Line, when expelled from a Coun-
 
 MEMOIRS. 127 
 
 try over which his Ancestors had reigned, 
 in uninterrupted male Succession, for above 
 eight hundred years ! When I visited Gos- 
 field, among the Guests who attracted most 
 attention, might justly be reckoned the late 
 Lord Temple, then far advanced in life, and 
 very infirm. In his person he was tall and 
 large, though not inclined to corpulency. 
 A Disorder, the seat of which lay in his ribs, 
 bending him almost double, compelled him, 
 in walking, to make use of a sort of Crutch : 
 but his Mind seemed exempt from any decay. 
 His Conversation was animated, brilliant, 
 and full of entertainment. Notwithstanding 
 the nick name of " Squire Gawkey," which 
 he had obtained in the satirical, or party 
 productions of those Times, and which, we 
 may presume, was not given him without 
 good reason ; he had nevertheless the air and 
 appearance of a man of high Condition, when 
 he appeared with the Insignia and Decora- 
 tions of the Garter, seated at Table. It is 
 well known that George the Second, who, 
 though he generally yielded to Ministerial 
 violence or importunity, yet manifested often 
 great reluctance and even ill humor, in his 
 manner of compliance on these occasions, 
 strongly disliked Lord Temple. Being how-
 
 128 HISTORICAL 
 
 ever compelled, in consequence of political 
 arrangements very repugnant to his feelings, 
 to invest that Nobleman with the Order of 
 the Garter , the King took so little pains to 
 conceal his aversion, both to the individual, 
 and to the act ; that instead of placing the 
 Ribband decorously over the Shoulder of the 
 new Knight, His Majesty, averting his Head, 
 and muttering indistinctly, some expressions 
 of dissatisfaction, threw it across him, and 
 turned his Back at the same instant, in the 
 rudest manner. 
 
 George the Third, on such occasions, pos- 
 sessed or exerted more restraint over his pas- 
 sions, than did his Grandfather. Yet even 
 He did not always execute the commands of 
 his Minister, where they were disagreeable 
 or revolting to him, without displaying some 
 reluctance. I have been assured from high 
 contemporary Authority, that at the Cere- 
 mony of investing the present Marquis Carn- 
 den with the Order of the Garter t after his 
 Return from Ireland, where he had been 
 Lord Lieutenant ; His Majesty, who felt not 
 a little unwilling to confer it on him, betrayed 
 a considerable degree of ill humor in his 
 countenance and manner. However, as he
 
 MEMOIRS. 129 
 
 knew that it must be performed, Mr. Pitt 
 having pertinaciously insisted on it; the King 
 took the Ribband in his hand, and turning to 
 an Individual present, before the New Knight 
 approached, asked of him, if he knew Lord 
 Camden's Christian Name. The Person thus 
 addressed, after inquiring, informed him that 
 it was John Jeffreys. " What! what!" re- 
 plied the King; " John Jeffreys! the first 
 " Knight of the Garter, I believe, that ever 
 " was called John Jeffreys." The Aversion 
 of George the Second towards Lord Temple, 
 originated partly in personal, but, more from 
 political motives or feelings. His present 
 Majesty's disinclination to confer the Garter 
 on Lord Camden, probably arose merely 
 from considering his Descent, though most 
 honorable and respectable, as not sufficiently 
 illustrious. But, the great talents and qua- 
 lities of the first Earl, had diffused a lustre 
 over the name of Pratt. In the Eye of 
 Reason and of true Philosophy, such a Fa- 
 ther conferred more Dignity on his Issue, 
 than if they had derived their origin from 
 Nell Gwynn, or from Mademoiselle de la 
 Querouaille, or from Barbara Villiers, Du- 
 chess of Cleveland, by a Prince like Charles 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 HISTORICAL 
 
 the Second. We may exclaim with Pope 
 on the Occasion, 
 
 u What, tho' thy ancient, but ignoble Blood, 
 
 Has crept thro' Scoundrels ever since the Flood !" 
 
 Yet might the Sovereign, when conferring 
 the Garter, justly consider the Pretensions 
 of a Duke of St. Albans r as higher than those 
 of Earl Camden ; although the latter was 
 the Heir and Representative of a Man, who 
 united in his legal and public Character, 
 some of the most shining Qualities that can 
 elevate or adorn human Nature. To these 
 endowments of the Father, the Son originally 
 owed the Dignity of the Peerage, which de- 
 volved on him. To Mr. Pitt's friendship he 
 was subsequently indebted for the distinction 
 of the Garter. 
 
 Lord Nugent was created an Irish Earl 
 during, the time that I was at Gosfield, having 
 antecedently been raised to the title of Vis- 
 count Clare. He formed a striking Contrast to 
 Lord Temple, in his Manners and Address. 
 Of an athletic frame, and a vigorous Consti- 
 tution, though very far advanced in years, he 
 was exempt from infirmity; possessing a
 
 MEMOIRS. 131 
 
 Stentorian voice, with great animal spirits, 
 and vast powers of Conversation. He was in- 
 deed a man of very considerable natural abi- 
 lities, though not of a very cultivated mind. 
 His talents seemed more adapted to active, 
 than to speculative life; to the Drawing 
 Room, or the House of Commons, than to the 
 Closet. Having sat in many Parliaments, he 
 spoke fluently, as well as with energy and 
 force ; was accounted a good Debater, and 
 possessed a species of Eloquence, altogether 
 unembarrassed by any false modesty or timi- 
 dity. In the progress of a long life, he had 
 raised himself from a private Gentleman, of 
 an ancient family in Ireland, and a considera- 
 ble patrimonial fortune, to an Irish Earldom ; 
 which Dignity, together with his name, he 
 procured to devolve on the late Marquis of 
 Buckingham, then Mr. Grenville, who had 
 married his only daughter. They were both 
 likewise at Gosfield, during the time of which 
 I speak ; and Lord Nugent having gone up to 
 town, for the purpose of kissing the King's 
 Hand, upon his new Creation, returned from 
 thence on the following day, as we were seat- 
 ed at Table, after Dinner. The object of his 
 visit to St. James's, was well known by every 
 one present ; but he immediately announced 
 
 K2
 
 132 HISTORICAL 
 
 it, as soon as he had taken his place, by fill- 
 ing out a glass of Wine, and toasting his 
 Daughter's health, as Lady Mary Grenville. 
 
 Lord Nugent, when young, had occupied 
 & distinguished place in the favor of Frederic, 
 Prince of Wales ; and was more than once 
 destined to have filled an Office in some of 
 those imaginary Administrations, commemo- 
 rated by Dodington, which were perpetually 
 fabricated at Leicester House, during the 
 long interval of near fourteen years that 
 elapsed between the accession of George the 
 Second, and His Royal Highness's decease 
 in 1751. The Prince died considerably in 
 his debt; nor was the Sum so due, ever li- 
 quidated, unless we consider the Offices and 
 Dignities conferred on Lord Nugent by 
 George the Third, at different periods of his 
 reign, as having been in the nature of a re- 
 tribution for loans made to his father. In 
 return for these marks of royal favor, he pre- 
 sented Verses to the Queen, accompanying a 
 piece of Irish Stuff, which Her Majesty gra- 
 ciously accepted. Both the Poetry, and the 
 Manufacture, were satirically said to be Irish 
 Stuff. They began, if I recollect right,
 
 MEMOIRS. 133 
 
 " Could poor lerne gifts afford, 
 Worthy the Mistress of her Lord, 
 Of sculptur'd Gold, a costly frame, 
 Just emblem of her worth should flame." 
 
 But Lord Nugent's Muse will never rank 
 him with Prior, nor even with Lyttelton and 
 Chesterfield. He was a better Courtier, than 
 a Poet; and he had always been distinguished 
 by the other Sex. Glover, when speaking of 
 him, says, "Nugent, a jovial and voluptuous 
 Irishman, who had left Popery, for the Pro- 
 testant religion, money, and widows." His 
 first Wife, Lady Amelia Plunket, daughter of 
 the Earl of Fingal, brought him only one Son, 
 Colonel Nugent, who died, many years before 
 his father. Mrs. Knight, Sister and Heiress 
 of the celebrated Craggs, Secretary of State 
 under George the First; buried in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey; (and who is immortalized by 
 Pope's Epitaph on him, more perhaps than 
 by his talents, or his actions ;) was Lord Nu- 
 gent's second Wife. She brought him nei- 
 ther felicity nor issue ; but she brought him 
 the House and Estate at Gosfield, one of the 
 finest Domains in Essex. To the Countess 
 Dowager of Berkeley, he gave his hand a 
 third time; though not under fortunate Aus- 
 pices, nor in a happy Hour. The late Mar-
 
 134 HISTORICAL 
 
 chioness of Buckingham was the only issue 
 of this match, recognized by Lord Nugent. 
 But, his devotion to the Sex, which remain- 
 ed proof to all trials, animated him even to 
 the close of life. Lord Temple and He, both, 
 composed Verses, after this time, addressed 
 to the same Object. I believe it was in the 
 month of August, 1776, that these aged 
 Peers presented some Couplets of their re- 
 spective compositions, to the late Duchess 
 of Gordon, then in the Meridian of her 
 Charms ; when Lord Temple having enter- 
 tained Her and the Duke at Stow, lighted up 
 the Grotto for her reception. Lord Nugent, 
 tp a perfect knowledge of the World, joined 
 a coarse and often licentious, but natural, 
 strong, and ready Wit, which no place, nor 
 company, prevented him from indulging; and 
 the effect of which was augmented by an 
 Irish Accent that never forsook him. It is 
 well known, that when a Sill was introduced 
 into the House of Commons, for better 
 watching the Metropolis; in order to con- 
 tribute towards effecting which object, one 
 of the Clauses went to propose, that Watch- 
 men should be compelled to sleep during the 
 day-time; Lord Nugent, with admirable hu- 
 mor, got up, and desired that " he might
 
 MEMOIRS. 135 
 
 * 
 
 be personally included in the provisions of 
 the Sill, being frequently so tormented with 
 the Gout, as to be unable to sleep either by 
 day, or by night." 
 
 While I am on this subject, I cannot resist 
 relating a frolick, which rendered Lord Nu- 
 gent, or rather Mr. Nugent, he being then 
 a Commoner, not a little distinguished, to- 
 wards the end of George the Second's reign. 
 George, Earl of Bristol, eldest of the three 
 Sons of the famous Lord Hervey, whom Pope 
 has, very unjustly, transmitted to Posterity, 
 as " Lord Fanny," and as " Sporus;" like his 
 father, inclined to a degree of effeminacy in his 
 person, manners, and dress. Probably, these 
 characteristics of deportment, while they 
 exposed him to some animadversion or ridi- 
 cule, led to a supposition that they were con- 
 nected with want of spirit; and that he would 
 not promptly resent insult. Certain it is that 
 Mr. Nugent, then a man of consideration, 
 fortune, and fashion, living in the highest com- 
 pany of the Metropolis; being one Evening 
 at Lord Temple's House in Pall-Mall, where 
 a splendid Assembly of both Sexes was col- 
 lected; laid a singular Bet with Lord Tem- 
 ple, that he would spit in the Earl of Bristol's 
 Hat. The wager was accepted, and Mr. Nu
 
 136 HISTORICAL 
 
 gent instantly set about its accomplishment. 
 For this purpose, as he passed Lord Bristol, 
 who stood in the door-way of one of the 
 Apartments, very richly dressed, holding his 
 Hat under his Arm, with the inside upper- 
 most; Mr. Nugent, turning round as if to 
 spit, and affecting not to perceive Lord Bris- 
 tol, performed that act in his Hat. 
 
 Pretending the utmost concern and dis- 
 tress at the unintentional rudeness that he 
 had committed, Mr. Nugent made a thousand 
 Apologies to the Earl for his Indecorum, and 
 entreated to be allowed to wipe off the affront 
 with his pocket Handkerchief: but, Lord 
 Bristol calmly taking out his own, used it for 
 that purpose ; besought Mr. Nugent not to 
 be discomposed ; assured him that he was not 
 discomposed himself; wiped the inside of his 
 Hat ; and then replacing it as before, under 
 his Arm, asked Mr. Nugent whether he had 
 any farther occasion for it in the same way ? 
 Having so done, the Earl, without changing 
 a muscle of his Countenance, or manifesting 
 any irritation, quitted the place where he 
 stood ; sat down to play with the party he 
 usually made at Cards, finished his two or 
 three Rubbers, and returned home. Mr. 
 Nugent, after triumphantly winning his Bet,
 
 MEMOIRS. 137 
 
 considered the matter as terminated ; but in 
 this supposition he counted without his host. 
 Early on the following Morning, before he 
 was risen, he received a Note, similar in its na- 
 ture and contents to that which Gil Bias tells 
 us he delivered to his Master, Don Mathias 
 de Sylva; but, with the summons contained 
 in which, Mr. Nugent did not manifest the 
 same careless promptitude to comply, as the 
 Spanish Grandee exhibited, in the Novel of 
 Le Sage. The Note acquainted him, that 
 Lord Bristol expected and demanded Satis- 
 faction for the insult of the preceding night, 
 without delay; naming time, as well as place. 
 An instant answer was required. 
 
 Mr. Nugent now perceived that he had 
 involved himself in a very serious affair of 
 Honor, where he had only meant to gratify 
 a wanton moment of frolick. However per- 
 sonally brave, he felt that the Exertion of his 
 Courage, in order to cover or justify a pre- 
 meditated insult, which no Sophistry could 
 warrant or excuse, would only aggravate 
 his offence. Under this impression, having 
 determined therefore to make reparation, he 
 wrote to Lord Bristol, offering every possible 
 Apology for the act committed ; which, he 
 admitted, would be inexcusable, if it had
 
 138 HISTORICAL 
 
 been meant as an Affront. But, as the best 
 extenuation of so gross a seeming violation 
 of all Decorum, he added, that it did not 
 arise from the most remote intention of in- 
 sulting the Earl, the whole Matter having 
 originated in a Bet. He concluded by pro- 
 fessing his readiness to ask pardon in the 
 most ample manner ; requesting that the bu- 
 siness might not produce any further conse- 
 quences. To this Application Lord Bristol 
 replied, that though he was disposed readily 
 to admit, and to accept, the proffered Repa- 
 ration; yet, as the Affront had been com- 
 mitted in public Company, so must the ex- 
 acted Apology be made ; and he named the 
 Club-room at White's, as the place where he 
 would receive it from Mr. Nugent. Not, 
 however, by any means, Lord Bristol added, 
 from him only ; for, as he now understood 
 that the Act itself owed its rise to a wager, 
 it became clear that there must be another 
 person implicated in the Transaction. He 
 insisted therefore on knowing the name of 
 that individual, from whom, as a participator 
 in the Frolick, he should equally exact an 
 Apology; and declaring that on no other 
 conditions would he relinquish his right to 
 demand personal Satisfaction. In conse- 
 quence of so peremptory a. Requisition, Mr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 139 
 
 Nugent owned that Lord Temple was the 
 person to whom he had alluded ; and both 
 the Gentlemen were finally reduced to com- 
 ply with the terms, by asking pardon in the 
 Club-room at White's. Lord Bristol then 
 declared himself satisfied, and the Affair at 
 an end. 
 
 The late Lord Sackville told me, that when 
 young, he was well acquainted with Lord 
 Mark Kerr; a Nobleman whose person 
 being, like Lord Bristol's, cast by Nature in 
 a very delicate Mould, sometimes subjected 
 him among strangers, to insults, from a sup- 
 position that a man of so feminine a figure, 
 would not be prone to resent an Affront. Jn 
 this calculation they were however egre- 
 giously deceived, he being a person of de- 
 cided Courage. Shortly after the Battle of 
 Dettingen, during the Summer of the year 
 1743, the Earl of Stair, then commanding 
 the British Forces in Germany, under George 
 the Second, entertained at his Table several 
 French Officers, who had been taken pri- 
 soners in that Engagement. A numerous 
 Company sat down to Dinner, in the Tent of 
 the Commander-in-chief, among whom was 
 Lord Mark ; who being Son to the Marquis
 
 140 HISTORICAL 
 
 of Lothian, and nearly related to Lord 
 Stair, acted as one of his Aides du Camp. 
 Lord Sackville was present on the occasion. 
 A difference of opinion having arisen during 
 the repast, on some point which was main- 
 tained by one of the French Officers, with 
 great pertinacity; Lord Mark Kerr, in a 
 very gentle tone of voice, ventured to set 
 him right on the matter of fact. But, the 
 Frenchman, inconscious of his Quality, and 
 perhaps thinking that a frame so delicate, 
 did not enclose a high Spirit ; contradicted 
 him in the most gross terms, such as are 
 neither used nor submitted to among Gen- 
 tlemen. The circumstance took place so 
 near to Lord Stair, as unavoidably to at- 
 tract his attention. No notice whatever was 
 taken of it at the time, and after Dinner the 
 company adjourned to another Tent, where 
 Coffee was served. Lord Mark coming in 
 about a quarter of an Hour later than the 
 others, Lord Stair no sooner observed him, 
 than calling him aside, " Nephew," said he, 
 " I think it is impossible for you to pass 
 " by the affront that you received from the 
 " French Officer at my Table. You must 
 " demand Satisfaction, however much I re- 
 " gret the necessity for it." " Oh, My
 
 MEMOIRS. 141 
 
 " Lord," answered Lord Mark, with his* 
 characteristic Gentleness of Manner, " you 
 " need not be under any uneasiness on that 
 " subject. We have already fought. I ran 
 " him through the Body. He died on the 
 " spot, and they are at this moment about 
 " to bury him. I knew too well what I 
 " owed to myself, and I was too well con- 
 " vinced of your Lordship's way of think- 
 " ing, to lose a moment in calling the Offi- 
 " cer to account." 
 
 I passed the ensuing Winter, of 1776-7, 
 in London; a period which is now so distant, 
 and the Manners, as well as the inhabitants 
 of the Metropolis, have undergone since that 
 Time, so total a Change, that they no longer 
 preserve almost any similarity. The sinister 
 events of the American War, had already 
 begun to shed a degree of political gloom 
 over the Capital and the Kingdom ; but, this 
 Cloud, dark as it was, bore no comparison 
 with the terror and alarm that pervaded the 
 firmest Minds in 1792, and 1793, after the 
 first Explosion of the French Revolution, 
 the Deposition of Louis the Sixteenth, and 
 the commencement of the Continental War in 
 Flanders. In 1777, we in fact only contended
 
 142 HISTORICAL 
 
 for Empire and Dominion. No fears of sub- 
 version, extinction, and subjugation to foreign 
 violence, or to revolutionary arts, interrupted 
 the general tranquillity of Society. It was 
 subjected, indeed, to other Fetters, from which 
 we have since emancipated ourselves ; those 
 of Dress, Etiquette, and Form. The lapse of 
 two Centuries could scarcely have produced 
 a greater alteration in these particulars, than 
 have been made by about forty years. That 
 Costume, which is now confined to the Le- 
 vee, or the Drawing-room, was then worn 
 by persons of Condition, with few exceptions, 
 every where, and every day. Mr. Fox and 
 his friends, wtyo might be said to dictate to 
 the Town, affecting a style of neglect about 
 their persons, and manifesting a contempt 
 of all the usages hitherto established, first 
 threw a sort of discredit on Dress. From 
 the House of Commons, and the Clubs in St. 
 James's Street, the Contagion spread through 
 the private Assemblies of London. But, 
 though gradually undermined, and insensibly 
 perishing of an Atrophy, Dress never totally 
 fell, till the JEra of Jacobinism and of Equa- 
 lity, in 1793, and 1794. It was then that 
 Pantaloons, cropped Hair, and Shoe-strings, 
 as well as the total abolition of Buckles
 
 MEMOIRS. 143 
 
 and Ruffles, together with the disuse of 
 Hair-powder, characterized the men: while 
 ladies, having cut off those Tresses, which 
 had done so much execution ; and one Lock of 
 which purloined, gave rise to the finest Mo- 
 del of mock-heroic Poetry, which our own, 
 or any other language can boast ; exhibited 
 Heads rounded " a la Victime, et ct la Guil- 
 lotine" as if ready for the stroke of the Axe. 
 A Drapery, more suited to the Climate of 
 Greece or of Italy, than to the temperature 
 of an Island situate in the fifty-first De- 
 gree of Latitude ; classic, elegant, luxurious, 
 and picturesque, but, ill calculated to protect 
 against damp, cold, and fogs; superseded the 
 ancient female attire of Great Britain ; finally 
 levelling or obliterating almost all external 
 distinction between the highest and the low- 
 est of the Sex, in this Country. Perhaps, 
 with all its incumbrances, penalties, and in- 
 conveniences, it will be found necessary, at 
 some not very distant period, to revive, in a 
 certain degree, the empire of Dress. 
 
 At the time of which I speak, the " Gens 
 de Lettres" or " Blue Stockings," as they 
 were commonly denominated, formed a very 
 numerous, powerful, compact Phalanx, in the
 
 144 HISTORICAL 
 
 inidst of London. Into this Society, the two 
 Publications which I had recently given to 
 the World; one, on the Northern Kingdoms 
 of Europe; the other, on the History of 
 France under the Race of Valois ; however 
 destitute of merit they might be, yet facili- 
 tated and procured my admission. Mrs. 
 Montague was then the Madame du Deffand 
 of the English Capital ; and her House con- 
 stituted the central point of union, for all 
 those persons who already were known, or 
 who emulated to become known, by their 
 talents and productions. Her supremacy, 
 unlike that of Madame du Deffand, was 
 indeed, established on more solid founda- 
 tions than those of intellect ; and rested on 
 more tangible materials, than any with 
 which Shakespear himself could furnish her. 
 Though she had not as yet begun to con- 
 struct the splendid Mansion, in which she 
 afterwards resided, near Portman Square, 
 she lived in a very elegant house in Hill 
 Street. Impressed probably, from the sug- 
 gestions of her own knowledge of the World, 
 with a deep conviction of that great Truth 
 laid down by Moliere, which no Man of 
 Letters ever disputed ; that " Le vrai Am- 
 phyttrion est celui chez qui Von dine; 1 ' Mrs.
 
 MEMOIRS. 145 
 
 Montague was accustomed to open her 
 House to a large Company of both Sexes, 
 whom she frequently entertained at Dinner. 
 A service of plate, and a table plentifully 
 covered, disposed her guests to admire the 
 splendor of her Fortune, not less than the 
 lustre of her Talents. She had found the 
 same results flowing from the same causes, 
 during the visit that she made to Paris, after 
 the Peace of 1 763 ; where she displayed to 
 the astonished Literati of that Metropolis, 
 the extent of her pecuniary, as well as of her 
 mental resources. As this topic formed one 
 of the subjects most gratifying to her, she 
 was easily induced to launch out on it, with 
 much apparent Complacency. The Eulo- 
 giums lavished on her Repasts, and the 
 astonishment expressed at the magnitude 
 of her Income, which appeared prodigious- 
 ly augmented by being transformed from 
 Pounds Sterling, into French Livres ; seem- 
 ed to have afforded her as much Gratifica- 
 tion, as the Panegyrics bestowed upon the 
 " Essay on the Genius and Writings of 
 " Shakespear." 
 
 Mrs. Montague, in 1776, verged towards 
 her sixtieth year ; but her person, which was 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 HISTORICAL 
 
 thin, spare, and in good preservation, gave 
 her an appearance of less antiquity. From 
 the infirmities often attendant on advanced 
 life, she seemed to be almost wholly exempt. 
 All the lines of her Countenance bespoke in- 
 telligence, and her Eyes were accommodated 
 to her cast of features, which had in them 
 something satirical and severe, rather than 
 amiable or inviting. She possessed great na- 
 tural cheerfulness, and a flow of animal spi- 
 rits ; loved to talk, and talked well on almost 
 every subject; led the Conversation, and was 
 qualified to preside in her Circle, whatever 
 subject of discourse was started : but her 
 manner was more dictatorial and sententious, 
 than conciliating or diffident. There was 
 nothing feminine about her ; and though her 
 opinions were usually just, as well as deli- 
 vered in language suited to give them force, 
 yet the organ which conveyed them, was not 
 soft or harmonious. Destitute of taste in 
 disposing the ornaments of her Dress, she 
 nevertheless studied or affected those aids, 
 more than would seem to have become a 
 woman professing a philosophic Mind, intent 
 on higher pursuits than the Toilet. Even 
 when approaching to fourscore, this female 
 weakness still accompanied her ; nor could
 
 MEMOIRS. 147 
 
 she relinquish her Diamond Necklace and 
 Bows, which, like Sir William Draper's 
 " blushing Ribband, "commemorated by "Ju- 
 nius," formed, of Evenings, the perpetual or- 
 nament of her emaciated person. I used to 
 think that these glittering appendages of 
 Opulence, sometimes helped to dazzle the 
 Disputants, whom her arguments might not 
 always convince, or her literary reputation 
 intimidate. That reputation had not as yet 
 received the rude attack made on it by Dr. 
 Johnson at a subsequent period, when he ap- 
 pears to have treated with much irreverence, 
 her " Essay on Shakespear," if we may be- 
 lieve his Biographer, Boswell. Notwithstand- 
 ing the defects and weaknesses that I have 
 enumerated, she possessed a masculine un- 
 derstanding, enlightened, cultivated, and ex- 
 panded by the acquaintance of Men, as well 
 as of Books. Many of the most illustrious 
 persons in rank, no less than in ability, un- 
 der the reigns of George the Second and 
 Third, had been her correspondents, friends, 
 companions, and admirers. Pulteney, Earl 
 of Bath, whose portrait hung over the Chim- 
 ney piece in her Drawing room ; and George, 
 the first Lord Lyttelton, so eminent for his 
 Genius, were among the number. She was 
 
 L2
 
 148 HISTORICAL 
 
 constantly surrounded by all that was dis- 
 tinguished for attainments or talents, male 
 or female, English or foreign ; and it would 
 be almost ungrateful in me not to acknow- 
 ledge the gratification derived from the con- 
 versation and intercourse of such a society. 
 
 Though Mrs. Montague occupied the first 
 place among the " beaux Esprits" at this 
 period, she was not without female competi- 
 tors for so eminent a distinction. Mrs. Vesey 
 might indeed be said to hold the second 
 rank : but, unlike Mademoiselle de VEspi- 
 nasse at Paris, who under the Auspices of 
 d'Alembert, raised a separate literary Stand- 
 ard from Madame du Deffand; Mrs. Vesey 
 only aspired to follow at a humble distance, 
 the brilliant Track of Mrs. Montague. The 
 former rather seemed desirous to assemble 
 persons of celebrity and talents, under her 
 roof, or at her table, than assumed or pre- 
 tended to form one of the Number, herself. 
 Though not lodged with the same magnifi- 
 cence as Mrs. Montague, yet she entertained 
 with less form, as well as less ostentation. 
 Mrs. Vesey's repasts were at once more 
 select, and more delicate. Farther advanced 
 in life than Mrs. Montague, she possessed
 
 MEMOIRS. 149 
 
 DO personal advantages of manner, and stu- 
 died no ornaments of Dress. Simplicity, 
 accompanied by a sort of oblivious inatten- 
 tion to things passing under her very sight, 
 characterized her. In absence of mind, in- 
 deed, she might almost be said to equal the 
 Duke de Brancas, Chamberlain to Anne of 
 Austria, relative to whose continual violation 
 of common rules, Madame de Sevigne has 
 consigned to us so many amusing Anecdotes. 
 With Mrs. Vesey this forgetfulness extended 
 to such a point, that she sometimes hardly 
 remembered her own name. It will scarcely 
 be credited, that she could declaim against 
 second marriages, to a Lady of Quality who 
 had been twice married, and though Mr. 
 Vesey was her own second Husband. When 
 at last reminded of the circumstance, she 
 only exclaimed, " Bless me, my dear, I had 
 " quite forgotten it!" There was, indeed, 
 some decay of mind in such want of recollec- 
 tion. Her sister-in-law, who lived in the 
 same House with her, and who formed, phy- 
 sically as well as morally, a perfect contrast 
 to Mrs. Vesey, superintended all domestic 
 arrangements. From their opposite figures, 
 qualities, and endowments, the one was called 
 " Body," the other " Mind."
 
 In these two Houses might then be seen 
 many or most of the persons of both Sexes, 
 eminent for literary Attainments, or Cele- 
 brity of any kind. Mrs. Thrale, still better 
 known by the name of Mrs. Piozzi, was to 
 be met with frequently in this Society, fol- 
 lowed or attended by Mr. Thrale, and by 
 Dr. Johnson. Of the former, it is unneces- 
 sary to say any thing; and relative to the 
 last, after the laboured, minute portraits 
 which have been drawn of him under every 
 attitude, what is it possible to say new ?- I 
 will freely confess that his rugged exterior 
 and garb, his uncouth gestures, his convolu- 
 tions and distortions, when added to the 
 rude or dogmatical manner in which he de- 
 livered his opinions and decisions on every 
 point; rendered him so disagreeable in 
 Company, and so oppressive in conversation, 
 that all the superiority of his talents could 
 not make full amends, in my estimation, for 
 these defects. In his anger, or even in the 
 warmth of argument, where he met with 
 opposition, he often respected neither age, 
 rank, nor sex; and the usages of polished 
 life imposed a very inadequate restraint on 
 his expressions, or his feelings. What are 
 we to think of a man, who, by the testimony
 
 MEMOIRS. 151 
 
 of his own Biographer, denominated Lord 
 Russel and Algernon Sidney, " Rascals ;" 
 qualified Pennant by the Epithet of " a 
 Dog," because in his political Opinions he 
 was a Whig; gave to Fielding, the appella- 
 tions of u a Blockhead, and a barren Ras- 
 cal ;" and in speaking of King William the 
 Third, invariably termed him " a Scoundrel?" 
 If not irascible, he was certainly dictatorial, 
 coarse, and sometimes almost impracticable. 
 Those whom he could not always vanquish 
 by the force of his intellect, by the depth and 
 range of his arguments, and by the compass 
 of his gigantic faculties, he silenced by rude- 
 ness ; and I have, myself, more than once, 
 stood in the predicament whicfy I here de- 
 scribe. Yet, no sooner was he withdrawn, 
 and with him had disappeared these personal 
 imperfections, than the sublime attainments 
 of his Mind left their full effect on the Audi- 
 ence: for, such the whole Assembly might be 
 in some measure esteemed, while he was pre- 
 sent. His beautiful Compositions, both prose 
 and poetical, the unquestionable benevolence 
 and philanthropy of his character, his labo- 
 rious and useful, as well as voluminous and 
 toilsome productions, when added to his li- 
 terary fame and pre-eminence; all these
 
 152 HISTORICAL 
 
 combined qualities so overbore or subdued, 
 the few who ventured to contend with him, 
 that submission or silence formed the only 
 protection, and the ordinary refuge, to which 
 they had recourse. 
 
 We never can enough regret, that a Man 
 who possessed such poetic talents as are dis- 
 played in his two Imitations of Juvenal; 
 " London," and the " Vanity of Human 
 Wishes ;" should have neglected or avoided 
 that Branch of Composition, in which he 
 might have attained to such comprehensive 
 eminence. If Pope's Imitations of Horace, 
 have more suavity, delicacy, and taste, than 
 Johnson's productions can boast ; the latter 
 breathe a spirit of sublime and severe Mora- 
 lity, mingled with a philosophic grandeur of 
 thought, which is equally captivating, as it 
 is impressive and instructive. How admi- 
 rable is his picture of Charles the Twelfth, 
 as opposed to that of Hannibal! How fine 
 is the comparison drawn between Wolsey and 
 Sejanus! What can exceed the judgment 
 shewn in selecting Charles the Seventh, the 
 Bavarian Emperor of 1741, as opposed to 
 the Xerxes of the Roman Satirist! The 
 English language offers, perhaps, nothing
 
 MEMOIRS. 153 
 
 more chaste, correct, and yet harmonious, 
 than these Verses, which are free from any 
 pedantry, or affectation of learning. The 
 fact however is, that Johnson did not dare to 
 yield to the seductions of the Muse, or to 
 abandon himself to the Inspiration of Poetry. 
 He was compelled to restrain his efforts, and 
 to limit them to the more temperate walk of 
 Prose, however capable he felt himself to be 
 of emulating Addison, or Gray, or Pope. It 
 is well known, that he was constitutionally 
 subject to a melancholy, morbid humor, 
 which, advancing with his years, approached 
 on certain occasions, to something like alien- 
 ation of Mind. Well aware of this infirmity, 
 he was apprehensive of its effects. Topham 
 Beauelerk, who lived in great intimacy with 
 him, often expressed to him the astonishment 
 and regret, naturally excited by his apparent 
 neglect of such Poetic Powers as Nature 
 had conferred on him. Johnson heard him 
 in silence, or made little reply to these re- 
 monstrances. But, on Mr. Beauclerk's mak- 
 ing the same remark to Mr. Thrale, that 
 Gentleman immediately answered, that " the 
 " real reason why Johnson did not apply 
 " his faculties to Poetry, was, that he dared 
 " not trust himself in such a pursuit, his
 
 154 HISTORICAL 
 
 "Mind not being equal to the species of 
 " Inspiration which Verse demands ; though 
 " in the walk of prose Composition, whether 
 " moral, philological, or biographical, he 
 " could continue his labors, without appre- 
 " hension of any injurious Consequences." 
 
 If, nevertheless, after rendering due ho- 
 mage to his paramount abilities, which no 
 testimony of mine can affect, I might venture 
 to criticise so eminent a person, as having 
 been deficient in any particular branch of 
 Information and polite knowledge, I should 
 say that his deficiency lay in History. Bos- 
 well has very aptly compared his under- 
 standing to an intellectual Mill, into which 
 subjects were thrown, in order to be ground 
 to Atoms, or pulverized. And Mrs. Piozzi 
 somewhere remarks, in better language than 
 I can do it by memory, that " his mind re- 
 " sembled a royal pleasure Garden, within 
 " whose ample dimensions every thing sub- 
 " servient to dignity; beauty, or utility, was 
 " to be found, from the stately Cedar, down 
 " to the lowliest plant or herb." That this 
 assertion, if loosely and generally taken, is 
 perfectly just, no person can dispute, who 
 knew him. That he was even thoroughly
 
 MEMOIRS. J55 
 
 conversant in the modern History of Europe, 
 for the last two or three Centuries, is incon- 
 testable ; and still less will it be denied, that 
 he intimately knew all the classic periods of 
 Greek and Roman Story, most of which he 
 had studied or perused in the original Writers. 
 But, these attainments he shared with many 
 of his Contemporaries. In the History of 
 Europe during the middle Ages, by which I 
 mean, from the Destruction of the Roman 
 Empire in the West, in the year 476, through 
 the ten Centuries that nearly elapsed before 
 the revival of letters, I always thought him 
 very imperfectly versed ; if not, on some por- 
 tions, uninformed and ignorant. To have 
 compared his knowledge, on these subjects, 
 with the information which Gibbon, or which 
 Robertson possessed, would have been an 
 insult to truth. But, as far as I could ever 
 presume to form an opinion, he was much 
 below either Burke, or Fox, in all general 
 historical information. 
 
 Even as a Biographer, which constitutes a 
 minor species of History, Johnson, however 
 masterly, profound, and acute, in all that re- 
 lates to Criticism, to discrimination, and to 
 dissection of literary merit ; has always ap-
 
 15(5 HISTORICAL 
 
 peared to me to have wanted many essential 
 qualities, or to have evinced great inaccuracy 
 and neglect. I do not mean to speak of his 
 prejudices and political partialities, which 
 hardly allow him to do justice to Milton, or 
 to Addison, because the one was in his Princi- 
 ples a violent Republican, and the other was 
 a Whig ; just as he calls our great Hampden, 
 " the Zealot of Rebellion:" Prejudices so 
 deeply rooted in his Mind, as to induce him to 
 maintain the moral Superiority of Charles the 
 Second, over His late Majesty King George 
 the Second. I allude to errors that could 
 only have arisen from an ignorance of facts, 
 with which he might and ought to have been 
 acquainted. What shall we say, when we 
 find him telling us, that Stepney, the Poet, 
 " was invited into public life by the Duke 
 '* of Dorset?" The event in question, must 
 have taken place about 1683, towards the 
 end of Charles the Second's reign. But, the 
 Creation of the Dukedom of Dorset, only 
 originated under George the First, in 1720. 
 In like manner he informs us, that Prior 
 published about 1706, " a volume of Poems, 
 " with the encomiastic Character of his de- 
 " ceased patron, the Duke of Dorset." No 
 doubt he means to speak of Charles, Earl
 
 MKMOIRS, 157 
 
 of Dorset, who died nearly at that time. 
 His mistakes, or his omissions and defect of 
 information, in narrating the life of that dis- 
 tinguished Nobleman, are much more gross. 
 Johnson makes him succeed to James Cran- 
 field, second Earl of Middlesex, in 1 674, his 
 uncle; who was already dead, many years 
 antecedent. It was the third Earl of Mid- 
 dlesex, Lionel, to whose estates and title the 
 Earl of Dorset succeeded, or was raised by 
 Charles the Second. On all the interesting 
 particulars of his marriages, his private life, 
 and his decease, relative to which objects 
 Curiosity must be so naturally and warmly 
 excited, the Biographer is either silent or 
 misinformed. I may be told, that these in- 
 accuracies, chiefly chronological, are of little 
 moment. So is it, whether the great Duke 
 of Marlborough died in 1722, or in 1723. 
 But, he who undertakes to compose an ac- 
 count of Churchill's life, is bound to know, 
 and accurately to relate, all the leading facts 
 that attended, or distinguished it. Johnson, 
 we may be assured, would have been, him- 
 self, the first to detect and to expose such 
 errors in another Writer. 
 
 Mrs, Thrale always appeared to me, to pos-
 
 158 HISTORICAL 
 
 sess at least as much Information, a Mind as 
 cultivated, and more Brilliancy of Intellect, 
 than Mrs. Montague; but she did not de- 
 scend among men from such an eminence, 
 and she talked much more, as well as more 
 unguardedly, on every subject. She was the 
 Provider and the Conductress of Johnson, 
 who lived almost constantly under her roof, 
 or more properly under that of Mr. Thrale, 
 both in Town, and at Streatham. He did not 
 however spare her, more than other women, 
 in his Attacks, if she courted or provoked his 
 Animadversion. As little did he appear to re- 
 spect or to manage Garrick, who frequently 
 made one of the Assembly. His presence 
 always diffused a gaiety over the room ; but 
 he seemed to shrink from too near a contact 
 with Johnson, whose superiority of mind, 
 added to the roughness and closeness of his 
 hugs, reduced Garrick to act on the defensive. 
 Mrs. Carter, so well known by her Erudition, 
 the Madame Dacier of England ; from her 
 religious cast of character, and gravity of 
 deportment, no less than from her intellectual 
 Acquirements, was more formed to impose 
 some check on the asperity or eccentricities 
 of Johnson. Dr. Burney, and his Daughter, 
 the author of " Evelina" and " Cecilia,"
 
 MEMOIRS. 159 
 
 though both were generally present; I al- 
 ways thought, rather avoided, than solicited, 
 notice. Horace Walpole, whenever he ap- 
 peared there, enriched and illuminated the 
 Conversation, by Anecdotes, personal and 
 historical ; many of which were rendered 
 more curious or interesting, from his having, 
 himself, witnessed their existence, or received 
 them from his father, Sir Robert Walpole. 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, precluded by his Deaf- 
 ness from mixing in, or contributing to ge- 
 neral conversation ; his Trumpet held up to 
 his ear, was gratified by the attention of 
 those who addressed to him their discourse ; 
 a notice which the resources of his mind 
 enabled him to repay with interest. 
 
 Mrs. Chapone, under one of the most 
 repulsive exteriors that any woman ever 
 possessed, concealed very superior attain- 
 ments, and extensive knowledge. Burke, 
 though occupied in the toils of parliamentary 
 discussion, and of ministerial attack, which 
 left him little leisure to bestow on literary 
 men or subjects ; yet sometimes unbent his 
 Faculties among persons, adapted by nature 
 to unfold the powers of delighting and in- 
 structing, with which Genius and Study hacf
 
 160 HISTORICAL 
 
 enriched him. His presence was, however, 
 more coveted, than enjoyed. Dr. Shipley, 
 Bishop of St. Asaph, accompanied by his 
 daughter, Miss Shipley, afterwards married 
 to Sir William Jones, might be frequently 
 seen there. The Abbe Raynal, who pass- 
 ed that Winter in London, was readily ad- 
 mitted, and eagerly courted. It must be con- 
 fessed that the variety of his Information, and 
 the Facility, as well as Readiness, with which 
 he communicated the stores of his exuberant 
 Memory, would have rendered him a valu- 
 able accession to any Circle; but, his Loqua- 
 city generally fatigued even those, whom it 
 delighted and improved. The present Lord 
 Erskine, who, thirty years later, attained to 
 the Great Seal, had not yet commenced his 
 career of Jurisprudence. But, the versatility 
 of his Talents, the energy of his Character, 
 and the vivacity of his Conversation, suffi- 
 ciently manifested, even at that time, the ef- 
 fect which such a union of Qualities might 
 produce, when powerfully urged and im- 
 pelled towards one object. Happily for him- 
 self, he did not want the strongest impulse, 
 arising from domestic pledges and embar- 
 rassments, well calculated to call out every 
 faculty of the mind. It is curious to reflect,
 
 MEMOIRS. 161 
 
 that if he had been born one step higher ; 
 if, instead of being the younger Son of a 
 Scotch Earl, his father had been a Marquis* 
 he never could have been called to the Bar. 
 His endowments, however great, assuredly 
 would not, in any other Profession, have 
 raised him to the Peerage, to fortune, and 
 to fame. His Celebrity, indeed, if we may 
 believe Mr. Fox's Biographer, had not ex- 
 tended across the Straits of Dover, even in 
 1802, when the Corsican First Consul ap- 
 pears not to have known his name. 
 
 Mrs. Boscawen, though inferior in literary 
 Reputation to Mrs. Montague, and perhaps 
 possessed of less general information, yet 
 conciliated more good-will. She had an his- 
 torical turn of rnind ; and in the course of 
 a long life passed among the upper Circles of 
 Society, she had collected and retained a 
 number of curious or interesting Anecdotes of 
 her own Times. Mr. Pepys, now Sir William 
 Pepys, to whose acquaintance and partiality 
 I was not a little indebted, for facilitating my 
 entrance into this Assembly of distinguished 
 Persons, is the last individual whom I shall 
 enumerate. To a mind adorned with classic 
 images, and conversant with classic authors, 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 HISTORICAL 
 
 _.. - t 
 
 he united great colloquial powers. The 
 friend of the first Lord Lyttelton, of Sir 
 James Macdonald, and of Topham Beau- 
 clerk, he was in principle a staunch Whig; 
 and as Johnson might be justly esteemed a 
 violent, as well as a bigotted Tory, much 
 political sparring occasionally took place 
 between them, in the progress of which, 
 many sparks of historical or philosophical 
 fire, were elicited on both sides. 
 
 Though literary reputation, or acknow- 
 ledged Talents and Celebrity of some kind, 
 seemed to constitute the primary title to a 
 place in those Conversations or Societies, 
 from which every species of Play was alto- 
 gether excluded ; yet Rank and Beauty were 
 to be found there, and contributed to render 
 them interesting in the highest Degree. The 
 late Duchess Dowager of Portland, Grand- 
 daughter of the Lord Treasurer Oxford, 
 herself a woman of distinguished taste in 
 various branches of Art or Virtu, was a fre- 
 quent visitant. It was impossible to look 
 on her, without reflecting that while still in 
 early Childhood, she had formed the object 
 of Swift's poetic attention, and been the sub- 
 ject of Prior's expiring Muse. J have seen
 
 MEMOIRS. 163 
 
 the Duchess of Devonshire, then in the first 
 bloom of youth, hanging on the sentences 
 that fell from Johnson's lips, and contending 
 for the nearest place to his chair. All the 
 Cynic Moroseness of the Philosopher and the 
 Moralist, seemed to dissolve under so flatter- 
 ing an approach ; to the gratification and dis- 
 tinction resulting from which, he was nothing 
 less than insensible. We may see in Bos well, 
 how tractable, gentle, and accommodating 
 he became while at Inverary, seated between 
 the Duke and Duchess of Argyle. 
 . 
 
 It is natural to ask, whether the literary 
 Society of London, at the period of which I 
 am speaking, could enter into any competi- 
 tion for extent of talents, and superiority of 
 attainments, with the Society of Paris, that 
 met at the Apartments of Madame du Def- 
 fand, and of Mademoiselle V Espinasse, under 
 the reigns of Louis the Fifteenth and Six- 
 teenth. In other words, whether the persons 
 who formed the Assemblies in the English 
 Capital, can support a comparison for Ability 
 and for Fame, with those who were accus- 
 tomed to meet in the French Metropolis. If 
 I may presume to give an opinion on this ques- 
 tion, I should have no hesitation in saying, 
 
 M 2
 
 164 HISTORICAL 
 
 that neither in the period of its duration, nor 
 in the number, merit, or intellectual eminence 
 of the principal members, can the English 
 Society be held up on any parity, scarcely, 
 indeed, in any Comparison, with that of 
 France. The latter Assemblies may be said 
 to have lasted near half a Century, from 
 1725, or 1730, down to 1775, or 1780; either 
 in the Houses of Madame du Dejfand, or of 
 Mademoiselle rEspinasse, or in both. The 
 " Blue Stocking" Assemblies at Mrs. Mon- 
 tague's and Mrs. Vesey's, remained in their 
 brilliant State, only for about fifteen years, 
 from 1770, to 1785. Before the last of those 
 periods, Mrs. Vesey had yielded to the pro- 
 gress of time, and of infirmity ; while Mrs. 
 Thrale, then become Mrs. Piozzi, had re- 
 moved from the Banks of the Thames, to 
 those of the Arno. 
 
 Mrs. Montague, indeed, survived; and her 
 Dinners, as well as her Assemblies, were 
 perpetuated to a very late period of her life ; 
 but the charm and the impulse that propelled 
 them, had disappeared. They were princi- 
 pally supported by, and they fell with, the 
 giant talents of Johnson, who formed the 
 Nucleus, round which all the subordinate
 
 MEMOIRS. 165 
 
 Members revolved. It became impossible, 
 after his Decease in 1784, to supply his 
 place. Burke, as I have already observed, 
 had more powerful avocations, and aspired 
 to other honors and emoluments, than those 
 which mere literary Distinction could bestow 
 on him. Hume, and Adam Smith, Men of 
 superior endowments, who might have con- 
 tributed to support such a Society, had 
 retired to Scotland, or were already dead. 
 Robertson, Lord Kaimes, and Lord Mon- 
 boddo, resided at Edinburgh ; only visiting 
 London occasionally, on Business, or for 
 Recreation. Gibbon, 1 believe, never emu- 
 lated to be a Member of these Assemblies, 
 and never attended them. He, too, like 
 Burke, looked more to Politics, than to Let- 
 ters, for his substantial recompense ; being at 
 once a Member of the House of Commons, 
 and a Lord of the Board of Trade. Perhaps, 
 indeed, the freedom of Hume's, and of Gib- 
 bon's printed Opinions on subjects connected 
 with Religion, might have rendered their ad- 
 mission difficult, or their society distasteful, 
 to the principal persons who composed these 
 parties ; where nothing like a relaxation on 
 points so serious, found protection or sup- 
 port. Johnson, who, as we know, felt so
 
 166 HISTORICAL 
 
 great a repugnance to every species of Scep- 
 ticism on matters of religious Belief, that 
 when composing his Dictionary, he would 
 not cite Hobbes, the celebrated Philosopher, 
 as an authority for any word or expression 
 used by that Writer, merely because he held 
 Hobbes's principles in aversion; Johnson, 
 who blamed Tyers, for only doing justice 
 to Hume, upon parts of his character wholly 
 unconnected with his writings ; and who 
 said, that " he should just as soon have 
 thought of praising a mad Dog;" he would 
 hardly have remained in the same room with 
 Hume and Gibbon ; though when taken once 
 by a sort of surprise, he did not refuse to 
 dine in company with Wilkes; of whom 
 nevertheless Boswell supposes him to say, 
 judging from Johnson's known Prejudices, 
 that " he would as soon dine with Jack 
 Ketch, as with Jack Wilkes." It is how- 
 ever to be recollected that Wilkes had de- 
 signated the Doctor, in a Note subjoined 
 to one of his printed Letters, by the Name 
 of " Pensioner Johnson." 
 
 The case was widely different in Paris, 
 where no political pursuits distracted Men 
 of Letters ; and where Infidelity, or even Ma-
 
 MEMOIRS. 167 
 
 terialism, far from exciting alienation, would 
 rather have conduced to recommend to notice, 
 the persons professing such tenets. Among 
 the Constellation of eminent Men and Wo- 
 men, who met at Madame du DeffancTs, 
 and at Mademoiselle VEspinasses, the greater 
 number were indeed avowedly " des Esprits 
 forts ;" in other words, Free Thinkers, who 
 not content with being so, themselves, en- 
 deavoured to make Proselytes by their wri- 
 tings. It is evident therefore, that the Circle 
 in London was, from various causes, neces- 
 sarily much more contracted than in France ; 
 where every person distinguished by talents, 
 with few exceptions, commonly resided al- 
 together in the Capital. For, Voltaire was 
 virtually banished beyond the French Con- 
 fines, by the Government; and lived in the 
 territory of Geneva, more by constraint, than 
 by choice or inclination. Rousseau was a 
 Genevese by Birth, who only visited Paris 
 from time to time; sometimes indeed resi- 
 dent in its Vicinity, but often a Wanderer, 
 proscribed and fugitive. After stating these 
 facts, which may explain the causes of the 
 superiority of the literary Society, or As- 
 semblies of Paris, over those of London ; it 
 would be idle to contest that they altogether
 
 168 HISTORICAL 
 
 eclipsed ours, in almost every point of Genius, 
 Science, and intellectual attainment. Who 
 in fact, met at Mrs. Montague's, or at Mrs. 
 Vesey's, that can compete with the names 
 of Maupertuis, Helvetius, Montesquiou, Fon- 
 tenelle, Voltaire, Madame du Chatelet, the 
 Marquis d'Argens, Mademoiselle de Launay, 
 the President Renault, D'Alembert, Diderot, 
 Condamine, the Duchess de Choiseul, Mar- 
 montel, Raynal, the Duke de Nivernois, Ma- 
 rivaux, the Abbe Barthelemi, Turgot, Con- 
 dorcet, and so many other illustrious persons 
 of both Sexes, who composed the Literati of 
 the French Metropolis? We can scarcely 
 be said to have any thing to oppose to such 
 a cloud of eminent persons, except the sin- 
 gle name of Johnson, 
 
 There seems, indeed, to be something in 
 the National Character of the French ; at 
 least there was so previous to the temporary 
 Extinction of the ancient Monarchy, and the 
 reign of Jacobinism, or military Despotism ; 
 more congenial to these mixed Assemblies of 
 persons of literary Endowments, than is found 
 among us. From the middle of the seven- 
 teenth Century, as long ago as the Regency 
 of Anne of Austria, we find that such meet-
 
 MEMOIRS. 169 
 
 ings existed at Paris, and enjoyed a great 
 degree of Celebrity. The Hotel de Ram- 
 bouillet, situate in the Vicinity of the Louvre, 
 constituted, as early as 1650, the point of re- 
 union for all the individuals of both Sexes, 
 distinguished in the Career of Letters. Ca- 
 therine de Vivonne, (the Madame du Deffand 
 of that period,) Marchioness of Rambouillet, 
 presided at them : an eminence for which she 
 was qualified, by the elegance of her Taste, 
 and the superiority of her Mind. In her 
 House, which became a sort of Academy, the 
 productions of the Time were appreciated, 
 and passed in Review. Dying in 1665, she 
 was succeeded by Henrietta de Coligny, 
 Countess de la Suze ; who, though with in- 
 ferior reputation, continued to assemble the 
 Wits and " Beaux Esprits" at her Hotel. 
 Her high Birth, her extraordinary Beauty, 
 and her poetic Talents, attracted to her Cir- 
 cle, every person eminent in the Metropolis. 
 It was on Her, that the four classic lines were 
 composed : 
 
 " Quae Dea sublimi vehitur per Inania Curru f 
 An Juno, an Pallas, an Venus ipsa venit I 
 Si Genus inspicias, Juno : si scrip tn, Minerva : 
 Si species Oculos, Mater Amoris erit." 
 
 Subsequent to her Decease in 1673, these
 
 170 HISTORICAL 
 
 Conversations seem to have languished for 
 nearly fifty years, till they were revived and 
 re-animated by the Duchess du Maine, a 
 Princess of the royal Blood, grand-daughter 
 of the great Conde, married to the Duke du 
 Maine, natural son of Louis the Fourteenth. 
 After her release from the Castle of Dijon, 
 to which Fortress she had been committed 
 Prisoner by the Regent Duke of Orleans in 
 1717, for her participation in the Conspiracy 
 of Prince Cellamare; about the year 1722, 
 she began to assemble persons of literary 
 Celebrity under her roof, in whose society 
 she passed the greater part of her leisure. 
 These Meetings, which were principally held, 
 not in the Capital, but at the Palace of 
 Seaux, about four leagues South of Paris, 
 continued to exist down to the Duchess du 
 Maine'^ Decease, in 1753; and were attended 
 by many of the persons of both Sexes, who 
 afterwards formed the Circles at Madame du 
 Deffand's, and at Mademoiselle 1'Espinasse's 
 Apartments. During the same period of 
 Time, Madame de Tencin, Sister to the Car- 
 dinal of that name, one of the most captiva- 
 ting Women in France, the Aspasia of that 
 Country, received at her Hotel, the " Gens 
 de Lettres ;" and may be said to have rivalled 
 the Duchess du Maine, as the Protectress
 
 MEMOIRS. 171 
 
 of Taste and polite Knowledge. Madame 
 de Tencin was Mother of d'Alembert, who 
 owed his Birth to illicit Love. 
 
 No Meetings of a similar nature or descrip- 
 tion, appear to have existed in London, be- 
 tween the Restoration of Charles the Second 
 in 1660, and the conclusion of the seven- 
 teenth Century, except the Society that met 
 at the House of the famous Hortensia Man- 
 cini, Duchess de Mazarin, Niece to the Car- 
 dinal of that Name : who, from 1667, to the 
 period of her Death in 1699, was accustomed 
 to receive at her Apartments, the Literati 
 of both sexes. St. Evremond, an Exile, a 
 Foreigner, and a Fugitive, like herself, con- 
 stituted the principal support, and the orna- 
 ment of these parties ; where the Chevalier de 
 Grammont, so well known by the Memoirs 
 published under his name, was likewise 
 to be found. It is curious to remark, that 
 the first "Blue Stocking" Assemblies, and 
 I believe, the only Meetings deserving that 
 name, which have ever been held in London, 
 down to those of which we have been speak- 
 ing ; were set on foot by natives of France, 
 expatriated and resident here. For, neither 
 the letters, nor the writings of Addison, Gay,
 
 172 HISTORICAL 
 
 Steele, Swift, or Pope, indicate that any 
 such Meetings existed from 1700, down to 
 the beginning of the present Reign. Lady 
 Wortley Montagu, Lady Hervey, the Du- 
 chess of Queensberry, and various other 
 females distinguished by their talents, no less 
 than by their high rank, adorned that period 
 of time; but they do not appear to have 
 emulated the line which Mrs. Montague so 
 successfully undertook, though they occa- 
 sionally received in their Drawing.-rooms, 
 the Wits and Poets of the reigns of Queen 
 Anne, of George the First, and George the 
 Second. Foreigners have indeed with reason 
 reproached the English, as too much attract- 
 ed by the love of Play, to Clubs composed 
 exclusively of Men, to be capable of relish- 
 ing a mixed Society, where researches of 
 Taste and Literature constitute the basis and 
 the central point of union. 
 
 1 quitted England in the Summer of 1777, 
 and made some stay at the Hague, where I 
 was presented by our Ambassador, Sir 
 Joseph Yorke, to the Prince of Orange; with 
 whom I afterwards had the honor to sup at 
 *' the Palace in the Wood," as well as to meet 
 him in private Society. This Prince has be-
 
 MEMOIRS. 173 
 
 come so well known to us, since his precipi- 
 tate retreat from Holland in the Winter of 
 1795, by his long residence in England, that 
 it is unnecessary to enter into any minute de- 
 tails relative to his character and qualities. 
 Even at the period to which I allude, he 
 neither inspired public respect, nor excited 
 private regard. His person, destitute of dig- 
 nity, corresponded with his manners, which 
 were shy, awkward, and altogether unfitted 
 to his high situation as Stadtholder. If he 
 displayed no glaring vices, he either did not, 
 or could not, conceal many weaknesses, 
 calculated to injure him in the estimation 
 of mankind. A constitutional Somnolency, 
 which increased with the progress of age, 
 was too frequently accompanied by excesses 
 still more injurious, or fatal to his reputa- 
 tion ; I mean those of the Table, particularly 
 of Wine. I have seen him at the Hague, of an 
 Evening, in a large Company, at Sir Joseph 
 Yorke's, in the situation that I here describe. 
 In vigor, ability, or resources of mind, such 
 as might enable him successfully to struggle, 
 like William the Third, with difficult or 
 tumultuous Times, he was utterly deficient. 
 If William the Fifth had possessed the Ener- 
 gies of that great Prince, we should neither
 
 174 HISTORICAL 
 
 have been engaged in War with Holland, as 
 happened towards the close of 1780; nor 
 would the S tad thol derate have been over- 
 turned in 1795, and the Seven Provinces, 
 which successfully resisted all the power of 
 Philip the Second, have ultimately sunk into 
 an enslaved Province of the Corsican Ruler 
 of France. 
 
 The two Brothers, John and Cornelius de 
 Witt, became in every Sense as formidable 
 Opponents to William the Third, in 1672, as 
 Van Berkel and Neufville proved to his Suc- 
 cessor, in the last Century: but, William the 
 Fifth allowed the French Faction at Amster- 
 dam, acting under the direction of Ver- 
 gennes, to consolidate their strength, to con- 
 clude a Treaty with the American Insurgents, 
 and to precipitate a rupture between the 
 Dutch Commonwealth and England. His 
 magnanimous Predecessor, though he had 
 scarcely then attained to manhood, opposed 
 and surmounted all the efforts of the Re- 
 publican Party, sustained by Louis the 
 Fourteenth, with a view to subject Holland 
 to French Ambition. Van Berkel merited 
 the Fate which unjustly befell the two de 
 Witts, and only escaped Punishment by the
 
 MEMOIRS. 175 
 
 inert and incapable Conduct of the Stadt- 
 holder, who permitted the fairest opportu- 
 nity to pass, for calling him to a public Ac- 
 count, as a violator of the laws of Nations, a 
 disturber of the public Peace, and an enemy 
 to his own Country. Relative to William the 
 Fifth's personal Courage, no opinion can be 
 formed, as it was never tried ; but he pos- 
 sessed neither the activity, nor any of the 
 endowments fitted for the conduct of Ar- 
 mies. It must however be admitted that his 
 Understanding was cultivated, his Memory 
 very retentive, his Conversation, when un- 
 embarrassed, entertaining and even instruc- 
 tive, abounding with historical Information 
 that displayed extensive acquaintance with 
 polite letters; and thai he joined to a fine 
 Taste in the Arts, particularly in Painting, a 
 generous protection of their Professors. In 
 a period of repose, he might have been 
 tolerated; but the Stadtholderate, at every 
 time since its commencement in the person 
 of William the First, and the original revolt 
 of the Low Countries from Philip the Se- 
 cond, has demanded the greatest Energies in 
 the individual who was placed at the head of 
 the Dutch Commonwealth.
 
 176 HISTORICAL 
 
 Nature, which rarely confers great or emi- 
 nent qualities of Mind in hereditary Descent, 
 seemed to have departed from that rule, in 
 the House of Nassau-Orange; where she 
 produced five Princes in succession, all of 
 whom were conspicuous in a greater or a less 
 degree, for courage, capacity, and the talents 
 that insure or confirm political power. The 
 five Roman Emperors, Nerva, Trajan, Ha- 
 drian, and the two Antonines, who suc- 
 ceeded each other in Antiquity, were alto- 
 gether unallied by ties of Consanguinity. 
 Adoption alone, cemented by matrimonial 
 Alliances, constituted the Connexion exist- 
 ing between them: and Commodus, whom 
 we suppose to have been the Son of Mar- 
 cus Aurelius, the last of those five Casars, 
 was only distinguished by his crimes, or 
 by his incapacity. William the First, and 
 his two Sons, though by different Wives, 
 Prince Maurice, and Frederic-Henry, who 
 may be said to have successively occupied 
 the Office of Stadtholder, or Captain-Gene- 
 ral of the United Provinces, during four- 
 score years, from 1567 to 1647, without in- 
 terruption; were three of the most illustrious 
 Men whom we have seen in modern Ages. 
 Even William the Second, though his end
 
 MEMOIRS. 177 
 
 was premature, and in some measure unfor- 
 tunate, he having died in the Flower of 
 Youth ; yet manifested no less strength of 
 Character and vigor of Mind, than his three 
 Predecessors. The whole existence of Wil- 
 liam the Third, from his twentieth Year 
 down to the Time of his Dissolution, formed 
 a perpetual display of fortitude, endurance, 
 toil, and military, as well as civil Exertion. 
 With him expired in 1702, the great line of 
 Nassau-Orawg-e. In 1747, the Dignity and 
 Functions of Stadtholder, which had been 
 suspended for five and forty years, were re- 
 vived in the person of William the Fourth, 
 Head of the Branch ofNassau-jD&te, colla- 
 terally related to the preceding race. How- 
 ever little favoured he might be by Nature in 
 his bodily formation, which was very defec- 
 tive, resembling our popular Idea of Richard 
 the Third; arid however moderately endowed 
 with intellectual powers was William the 
 Fourth, who married .the Princess Anne, 
 daughter of George the Second ; he at least 
 maintained during the few years that he sur- 
 vived his elevation, an external dignity of 
 Deportment, and an irreproachable moral 
 Conduct. But, in the hands of William the 
 Fifth his Son, may be said in every sense to 
 VOL. j, N
 
 J78 HISTORICAL 
 
 have become eclipsed, that great Office of 
 Stadtholder, in itself only less than royal ; 
 and under able management, perhaps even 
 more formidable than the kingly Dignity ! 
 
 The reception of the late Prince of Orange 
 by George the Third, when he sought refuge 
 in this Country, from the French Invasion, 
 early in 1795 ; was no less affectionate, hos- 
 pitable, and cordial, than the Treatment 
 which James the Second experienced in 
 1689, from Louis the Fourteenth. If James, 
 justly expelled by his English subjects for 
 Tyranny, political and religious, was lodged 
 at the Castle of St. Germain, and treated 
 with Royal Honors, by the French Monarch ; 
 William was equally placed in the Palace 
 at Hampton Court. The Princes of the 
 Royal Family, and the Nation at large, vied 
 in demonstrations of respect, compassion, 
 and attention towards him. The Princess 
 of Orange, a Woman of a far more elevated, 
 correct, and manly Character than her Hus- 
 band, experienced as generous, and as kind 
 a welcome, from the King and Queen of 
 Great Britain, as Mary of Modena, the Con- 
 sort of James, received in France. Of a 
 stature exceeding the height of ordinary Wo-
 
 MEMOIRS. 179 
 
 men, she extremely resembled in her figure, 
 the late King of Prussia, Frederic- William 
 the Second, her Brother, who was cast by 
 Nature in the same Colossal Mould. For- 
 tune, which had persecuted her in Holland, 
 did not prove more favourable to her in Eng- 
 land. Her second son, Prince Frederic of 
 Orange, a young man who excited the live- 
 liest expectations, and gave promise of many 
 virtues, had entered into the Austrian Ser- 
 vice, after his father's expulsion from Hol- 
 land. By his Mother he was regarded with 
 peculiar predilection, as formed to support 
 the Honor of the Houses of Nassau and of 
 Brandenburgh, from both which he equally 
 descended. Exemplary in the discharge of 
 all his military duties, to this principle his 
 premature Death was to be attributed, which 
 took place at Venice, in January, 1799; oc- 
 casioned by a malignant distemper or fever, 
 caught in consequence of visiting the sick 
 Soldiers, confined in the Hospitals of that 
 City. 
 
 His Britannic Majesty first read the ac- 
 count of it at the Queen's House, in one of 
 the French Newspapers, on Thursday night, 
 the 31s,t of January, 1799. Shocked at the 
 N 2
 
 180 HISTORICAL 
 
 intelligence, and not being quite sure of its 
 authenticity, he put the Newspaper in his 
 pocket; and taking the Queen aside, com- 
 municated it to her with much concern. As 
 the probabilities were greatly in favor of its 
 truth, or rather, as no doubt could reasonably 
 be entertained on the point, they agreed not 
 to delay announcing it to the Prince and 
 Princess of Orange ; who might otherwise re- 
 ceive so melancholy a notification, through 
 the channel of the English diurnal Publica- 
 tions, or even from common fame. This de- 
 termination they executed on the following 
 Day, at the Queen's House, where they de- 
 tained the Prince and Princess for two or 
 three Weeks, till the violence of the emotions 
 occasioned by the loss of their Son, had sub- 
 sided. Some faint hopes, indeed, were enter- 
 tained during eight or ten Days after the arri- 
 val of the intelligence, that it might prove ei- 
 ther premature or untrue. It was, however, 
 soon fully confirmed. All mankind agreed 
 that Prince Frederic eminently possessed Ta- 
 lents, Honor, and Courage. His unfortunate 
 Father, after arriving in this Country under a 
 dark political Cloud, and after residing here 
 many years, without acquiring the public 
 esteem, or redeeming his public character,
 
 MEMOIRS. 181 
 
 finally and precipitately quitted England un- 
 der a still darker Cloud; only to bury himself 
 in the obscurity of Germany, there to expire, 
 forgotten, and almost unknown. Such has 
 been the Destiny, in our Time, of the Repre- 
 sentative of that August House, which, in the 
 sixteenth Century, while it conducted the 
 Armies of Holland, opposed and humbled 
 Spain ; and which, in the seventeenth Century, 
 affixed limits to the Ambition of France, under 
 Louis the Fourteenth ! A Corsican Adven- 
 turer has since enslaved, plundered, and con- 
 scribed during many years, the Country, over 
 whose Councils, Barnevelt, the two de Witts, 
 and Heinsius, once presided ; for which Van 
 Tromp and Ruyter fought, conquered, and 
 fell ; and where the spirit of Freedom seemed 
 to have animated every individual, when the 
 Duke of Alva overran, and desolated those 
 Provinces. It is in making these reflections 
 on the modern Dutch, and contrasting their 
 Conduct with the Heroism of their Ancestors, 
 that we involuntarily exclaim with Goldsmith, 
 
 " Gods ! how unlike their Belgic Sires of old !" 
 
 At the time when I visited the Hague, in 
 July, 1777, Prince Louis, one of the Bro- 
 thers of the then reigning Duke of Brunswic
 
 182 HISTORICAL 
 
 Wolfenbuttel, and Commander-in-chief of the 
 Dutch Forces, enjoyed a much higher place 
 in the public Consideration, than did the 
 Stadtholder. I have rarely seen in the course 
 of my life, a man of more enormous bodily 
 Dimensions. William, Duke of Cumberland, 
 son of George the Second, whose Corpulency 
 was extreme, fell nevertheless far short of 
 him in bulk. But, this prodigious mass of 
 flesh, which it was natural to suppose, would 
 enervate or enfeeble the powers of his Mind, 
 seemed neither to have rendered him indolent 
 or inactive. The strength of his Character, 
 and the solidity of his Talents, while they 
 supplied in some measure the defects of the 
 Prince of Orange, animated and impelled 
 the vast machine that he inhabited. Prince 
 Louis manifested no Somnolency when in 
 Company; nor was he ever betrayed at Table, 
 into excesses injurious to his reputation. On 
 the Parade, and in his military Capacity, he 
 displayed equal animation and professional 
 knowledge. Attached to the interests of <fee 
 House of Orange, and to those of Great Bri- 
 tain, he became naturally obnoxious to the 
 French Faction in Holland ; which powerful 
 Party finally effected his removal from thr 
 post that he held in the service of the Re-
 
 MEMOIRS. 183 
 
 public, and compelled him to retire out of 
 the Dutch Dominions, a few years later than 
 the period of which I am speaking. He died, 
 I believe, in 1788. His Dismission and De- 
 parture prepared the way for the Overthrow 
 of the Stadtholderate, notwithstanding the 
 temporary Triumph of the late Duke of 
 Brunswic, and the Capture of Amsterdam, 
 effected in the Summer of 1787, by the 
 Prussian Forces. 
 
 His Brother, Prince Ferdinand of Bruns- 
 wic, who commanded the allied Army with 
 so much reputation, during the "Seven Years 
 War," from 1757 down to 1763; and who 
 occupied at that Time so distinguished a 
 rank in the History of Europe ; proved him- 
 self unquestionably an able General, and a 
 good Tactician; but he was by no means en- 
 dowed with superior Talents of any kind. 
 In order to have secured the degree of Fame 
 that he had acquired in the Field, it may be 
 asserted that he ought not to have survived 
 his last Campaign ; precisely as Juvenal says 
 of Marius, that he should have breathed his 
 last, immediately after his Victory over the 
 Cimbri, 
 
 " Cum de Teutonico vellet desceodere Curru."
 
 184 HISTORICAL 
 
 For, Prince Ferdinand soon afterwards 
 abandoned himself to the doctrines and reve- 
 ries of the Illumines; an Association of Men, 
 who, it is well known, obtained such an as- 
 cendant about that time, in Germany. They 
 reduced his Mind to a degree of imbecility 
 which could only excite Compassion. It will 
 hardly be believed that before the year 1773, 
 he was so subjugated by them, as frequently 
 to pass many Hours of the Night in Church- 
 yards, engaged in evoking, and attempting 
 to raise Apparitions. They practised success- 
 fully on his credulity, making him conceive 
 that he beheld Spectres, or aerial Forms. 
 These occupations, which afforded sufficient 
 proofs of intellectual decline, having im- 
 pelled the great Frederic, whose sound un- 
 derstanding despised the Illumines, to dis- 
 miss Prince Ferdinand from his situation in 
 the Prussian Service; or, as Thiebault as- 
 serts, in his " Souvenirs de vingt Ans," 
 (which perhaps is more probable,) the King 
 having liberated from Arrest an Officer whom 
 the Prince had confined ; he resigned. 
 Which ever was the Fact, he then retired 
 to Magdeburgh, of the Chapter of which se- 
 cularized Archbishoprick, he was Dean, or 
 Chief.
 
 MEMOIRS. 185 
 
 In that City he principally resided till the 
 Time of his Decease, divested of any mili- 
 tary Command, living in a sort of retreat; 
 but, keeping a good Table, and receiving at 
 Dinner, Strangers of Condition who visited 
 Magdeburgh. His income, a considerable 
 part of which consisted in a Pension from the 
 Crown of Great Britain, enabled him to main- 
 tain an establishment becoming his rank. 
 An intimate friend of mine, now, I regret, 
 no more; who was about that time, Minister 
 of England at the Court of Dresden, Mr. 
 Osborn, being well acquainted with Prince 
 Ferdinand, used frequently to dine with 
 him. The Prince, . who treated him with 
 great regard, wishing to make a Proselyte of 
 him, one day proposed that they should go 
 together to a certain Church-yard, on that 
 same night ; promising him that a Ghost 
 would infallibly appear to them. Mr. Os- 
 born agreed to accept the proposal, and to 
 accompany His Serene Highness to the scene 
 of these supernatural exhibitions, provided 
 that he would order six Grenadiers, their 
 pieces loaded with Ball Cartridge, to attend 
 them ; and would enjoin the Grenadiers to 
 fire upon whatever object might assume the 
 appearance of a Ghost. But, the Prince by
 
 186 HISTORICAL 
 
 no means relished the idea, and the party 
 therefore did not take place. Of the accu- 
 racy of this Anecdote I can have no doubt, 
 as it was related to me by Mr. Osborn him- 
 self, whose honor and veracity were indispu- 
 table. Prince Ferdinand continued till the 
 period of his Death, in July, 1792, to be a 
 Dupe and a Convert of the Illumines. 
 
 Sir Joseph Yorke, afterwards created Lord 
 Dover, maintained a distinguished rank 
 among the Members of the Corps Diploma- 
 tique, in 1777, at the Hague. His Table, 
 splendid and hospitable, was open to Stran- 
 gers of every Country. Educated under 
 Horace, Lord Walpole, and under the first 
 Lord Hampden, his manners and address 
 had in them something formal and ceremo- 
 nious ; but, the vigilance and ability which 
 he displayed during above five-and-twenty 
 years that he was Embassador of England to 
 the States-General, more than compensated 
 for these defects of external Deportment 
 Never, perhaps, at any period of modern 
 Time, except by Sir William Temple, under 
 Charles the Second, were the Interests of 
 Great Britain so zealously, yet temperately 
 sustained, as by him ; for whom the Stadt-
 
 MEMOIRS. 187 
 
 holder felt and expressed a sort of filial 
 regard. In 1777, the English Sovereign and 
 iNation still continued to preserve an Ascen- 
 dancy in the Dutch Councils ; till the aug- 
 menting Misfortunes, and accumulated Dis- 
 graces of the American War, which finally 
 enabled France to obtain a predominating 
 influence, compelled Lord North to recall 
 Sir Joseph Yorke from the Hague. 
 
 With another of His Majesty's foreign Mi- 
 nisters, Mr. Wroughton, who became after- 
 wards Sir Thomas Wroughton, I passed a 
 considerable part of the Summer of 1 778, in 
 the Court and Capital of Poland. Warsaw, 
 destined to become in more recent periods, 
 the Theatre of Carnage and Revolution, then 
 enjoyed a delusive Calm ; while Austria, 
 Saxony, and Prussia, were involved in war re- 
 lative to the Bavarian Succession. Wrough- 
 ton, at the Time of which I speak, was about 
 forty-six. He had been very handsome in 
 his youth; and though grown somewhat 
 corpulent, still preserved many of the Graces, 
 and much of the Activity, of that period of 
 life. His Education, if it had not given him 
 a very cultivated Mind, had completely fitted 
 him for the world ; and a residence of more 
 
 i
 
 188 HISTORICAL 
 
 than twenty years at the two Courts of Po- 
 land and Russia, in a public Character, ren- 
 dered his Conversation, upon all points con- 
 nected with the History of the North of 
 Europe, no less entertaining, than informing. 
 From him I learned a number of curious 
 facts respecting the two Russian Empresses, 
 Elizabeth and Catherine ; which, though they 
 assuredly would have been transmitted to 
 Posterity by Brantome, cannot, without vio- 
 lating Decorum, be commemorated in the 
 present Age. 
 
 Sir Thomas Wroughton was sent, at three 
 or four-and-twenty, to Petersburgh, where he 
 subsequently became British Consul, during 
 the reign of the former of those Princesses. 
 No man was better acquainted with her Cha- 
 racter, as well as with the political Intrigues 
 which distinguished the concluding years of 
 Elizabeth's life. He assured me that she died 
 a victim to her own excesses, and almost 
 with a saucer of Cherry-brandy at her lips ; 
 it having been found impossible, by any in- 
 junctions of her Physicians, to prevent the 
 female attendants about her person and Bed, 
 from indulging her in this pernicious gratifi- 
 cation. The last Princess of the Stuart line
 
 MEMOIRS. 189 
 
 who reigned in this Country, has been accus- 
 ed of a similar passion, if we may believe the 
 Secret History of that Time, or trust to the 
 Couplet which was affixed to the Pedestal 
 of her Statue in front of St. Paul's, by the 
 satirical Wits of 1714. The Empress Eliza- 
 beth's Amours were such as the Messalinas 
 and Faustinas of Antiquity, are asserted to 
 have carried on in the Capital of the Roman 
 world, without delicacy, shame, or restraint. 
 Suetonius might have found it difficult to re- 
 late, and Juvenal, as impossible to exaggerate, 
 the particulars of Elizabeth's Gallantries. 
 
 Of Catherine, Sir Thomas Wroughton 
 always spoke with admiration and respect, 
 though with freedom. To her notice he was 
 indeed greatly indebted for his elevation in 
 life; she having been instrumental in pro- 
 curing him the appointment of Consul to 
 Petersburgh. As he was in the flower of his 
 age at that time, and of an imposing figure, 
 he attracted her attention, and was honored 
 by her with such distinguishing marks of 
 predilection, as to draw upon him the resent- 
 ment of the Grand Duke, her Husband; 
 who, when he ascended the Throne, early 
 in 1762, by the name of Peter the Third,
 
 190 HISTORICAL 
 
 obtained during his short reign, Wroughton's 
 removal from Russia. He was then sent, by 
 orders from his own Court, to Dresden, as 
 Minister to Augustus the Third, Elector of 
 Saxony, in his capacity of King of Poland ; 
 and he accompanied or followed that Mo- 
 narch from Saxony to Warsaw, in the last 
 visit that Augustus made to his Polish Do- 
 minions. As Wroughton had become an 
 object of Peter's unconcealed dislike or jea- 
 lousy; and as Catherine had distinguished 
 him by personal attentions of the most flat- 
 tering nature; it was not an improbable 
 supposition, that she might have carried to 
 the utmost extent, her preference of him. 
 But he always assured me, even in Moments 
 of the greatest confidence and unreserve, that 
 he had never violated for an instant, the 
 limits of the most profound respect towards 
 her ; nor had ever received from her, encou- 
 ragement for such Presumption on his part. 
 " Count Poniatowski," said he, " was her 
 " Lover. I was only her humble Friend 
 " and Servant" 
 
 He told me, that the first time he ever 
 heard the name of Orloff mentioned, or ever 
 saw the Officer who afterwards became, as
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Prince Orloff, the avowed Favourite of Ca- 
 therine in every sense, was on the following 
 occasion. Crossing the Court of the Winter 
 Palace at Petersburg!!, some time during the 
 year 1760, the Grand Duchess, who leaned 
 on his arm, pointed out to him a young Man 
 in the Uniform of the Russian Guards, then 
 in the act of saluting her with his S pontoon; 
 and added, " Vous voyez ce beau jeune 
 " Homme. Le connoissez-vous ?" Wroughton 
 replying in the negative, "// s'appelle Orloff? 
 said Catherine ; " Croiriez-vous quil a eu la 
 " Hardiesse de me faire V Amour ?" " // est 
 " bien hardi, Madame" answered he, smiling. 
 The Conversation proceeded no further; but 
 it remained deeply imprinted upon Wrough- 
 ton's recollection, who from that Moment si- 
 lently anticipated the future favor of Orloff. 
 Sir Thomas Wroughton always spoke to me 
 of Catherine's Participation or Acquiescence 
 in the Death of Peter the Third, as involun- 
 tary, reluctant, and the Result of an insur- 
 mountable Necessity. He even considered 
 her knowledge of the Destruction of the 
 unfortunate Emperor Ivan, who was stabbed 
 by his own Guards at Schlusselbourg, in 
 1764, with a view to prevent his being li- 
 berated by Mirowitsch, as exceedingly pro-
 
 192 HISTORICAL 
 
 blematical. But he believed, in common 
 with all Poland, that Catherine had found 
 means to entrap, and to transfer to Peters- 
 burgh, the Princess Tarrakanoff, a Daughter 
 of the Empress Elizabeth ; where, as was 
 asserted, she had perished in prison, by the 
 waters of the River Neva entering the room 
 in which she was confined. There can be no 
 Doubt that Alexis Orloff, so well known in 
 the Annals of Catherine's Reign, who then 
 commanded the Russian Fleet in the Medi- 
 terranean,; became on that occasion, the in- 
 strument of her vengeance, or rather of her 
 apprehensions, by enticing on board his Ship, 
 in the Port of Leghorn, the unhappy Female 
 in question. This Accusation, sustained by 
 many strong facts, and apparent proofs, nar- 
 rated at great length, has since been sub- 
 mitted to the Tribunal of Europe, in " La 
 Vie de Catherine Seconde" by Castera, pub- 
 lished in 1797, soon after the Empress's 
 Decease. Sir John Dick, who at the time of 
 the supposed Princess's seizure by Alexis 
 Orloff, was British Consul at Leghorn; is 
 named in the Work to which I allude, as 
 having been an Accomplice in the act of 
 ensnaring, and carrying her off to the Rus- 
 sian Admiral's Ship. His Wife is likewise
 
 MEMOIRS. 193 
 
 charged with a participation in so foul a 
 conspiracy. 
 
 I lived during several years, in habits of 
 familiar acquaintance with Sir John Dick, 
 who retained, at fourscore, all the activity 
 of middle life, together with the perfect pos- 
 session of his Memory and Faculties. He 
 was an agreeable, entertaining, and well bred 
 Man, who had seen much of the World. 
 Dining in a large Company, at Mr. Thomas 
 Hope's, in Berkeley Square, on Sunday, the 
 10th of February, 1799, I sat by Sir John 
 Dick ; and well knowing his intimacy with 
 Alexis Orloff, I inquired of him, where the 
 Count then was ; 4 ' He is," answered Sir 
 John Dick, " at present at Leipsic, from 
 " which place he wrote to me, only three 
 " Weeks ago. The Emperor Paul com- 
 " manded him to travel, after having made 
 " him and Prince Baratinskoi, both of whom 
 " assisted in the termination of Peter the 
 " Third's life, assist likewise at the funeral 
 " ceremonies of that Prince. They held the 
 " Pall, and actually mounted guard over the 
 " Body, in the Church of the Citadel of 
 " Petersburgh; remaining the whole night, 
 " with the Corpse. Alexis went through 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 HISTORICAL 
 
 " this function with perfect Composure^* 
 JEncou raged by the frankness of this reply, 
 I ventured to ask him, if he had read the 
 Narrative of the Princess Tarrakanoff's Sei- 
 zure, related in " La Vie de Catherine Se- 
 " conde?" " I have certainly perused it," 
 said he, " and not without some concern, as 
 " I am there accused by name, no less than 
 " my Wife, of having been a party to the act 
 " of transporting by violence, a young, un- 
 " suspecting, and innocent Princess, on 
 " board the Russian Fleet. I will relate to 
 " you, as a man of veracity, all the part that 
 " I took, and all I know, relative to the 
 " pretended Princess in question ; who is 
 " there asserted to have been a Daughter of 
 " Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, by Alexis 
 " Razoumoffsky. 
 
 " During the time that the Russian Squa- 
 " dron lay in the harbour of Leghorn, in 
 " 1771, Alexis Orloff, who was the Admiral, 
 " resided frequently, if not principally, at 
 " Pisa, where he hired a splendid House. 
 " One morning, about eleven o'clock, a Cos- 
 " sack, who was in his Service, and who 
 " acted as his Courier, arrived at my door ; 
 " charged with a Message, to inform me that
 
 MEMOIRS. 195 
 
 ** his master, with some Company, in three 
 " Carriages, meant to dine with me on that 
 *' Day. I accordingly ordered a Dinner to 
 " be prepared for his reception. When he 
 " arrived, he brought with him a Lady, 
 " whom he introduced to my Wife and to 
 " myself: but he never named her, only 
 " calling her, " Questa Dama." She was by 
 " no means handsome, though genteel in her 
 " figure ; apparently, thirty years of Age ; 
 " and had the air of a person who had suf- 
 " fered in her health. There seemed some- 
 " thing mysterious about her, which excited 
 " my Curiosity, but which I could not pene- 
 " trate. Considering her with attention, it 
 " struck me forcibly that I had seen her be- 
 " fore, and in England. Being determined, 
 " if possible, to satisfy myself on this point, 
 " as we stood leaning against the Chimney 
 " piece in my Drawing-room, before Dinner, 
 " I said to her, " I believe, Ma'am, you 
 " speak English." " I speak only one little," 
 " answered she. We sat down to Dinner, 
 " and after the repast, Alexis Orloff pro- 
 " posed to my Wife, and to another Lady 
 " who was there present, to accompany him 
 " and the female stranger, on board his Ship. 
 " They both declining it, Orloff took her 
 o 2
 
 1P> HISTORICAL 
 
 " with him in the Evening. The Boom, of 
 " Chain, was then stretched across the Har- 
 " bour: but a Boat came from the Russian 
 " Admiral's Ship, into which he put the 
 " Lady, and accompanied her, himself,- safe 
 " on board, 
 
 " On the ensuing Morning, when OrloflT 
 " came on shore, he proceeded to my House. 
 " His Eyes were violently inflamed, and his 
 " whole Countenance betrayed much agita- 
 " tion. Without explaining to me the cause 
 " or the reason of this Disorder, he owned 
 " that he had passed a very unpleasant 
 " Night; and he requested me to let him 
 " have some of the most amusing Books in 
 " my Library, in order to divert the Lady who 
 " was on board his Ship. I never saw her 
 " again : but, 1 know that soon afterwards, 
 " she was sent by Alexis, in a Frigate, to 
 " Cronstadt; where, without being ever land- 
 " ed, she was transferred up the Neva, to 
 " the Fortress of Schlusselbourg, at the 
 " mouth of the lake Ladoga. Catherine 
 " there confined her, in the very room that 
 " Peter the Third had caused to be con- 
 " structed, with intent to shut up herself in 
 " it. The Lady unquestionably died in that
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ** Prison, of Chagrin ; but she was not drown- 
 " ed by the water of the Neva coming into 
 " her Apartment, as is asserted in " La Vie 
 " de Catherine Seconded 
 
 " Having stated to you," continued Sir 
 John Dick, " these Circumstances, [ will now 
 " inform you, who, and of what description, 
 " was the lady in question. Far from being, 
 *' as is pretended, a Daughter of Elizabeth, 
 " Empress of Russia, her father was a Baker 
 " of Nuremberg in Franconia. If, on this 
 " point, my Testimony should appear to you 
 " doubtful or suspicious, the present Mar- 
 ' grave of Anspach, who is in this Country, 
 " and who knew her well, is ready to testify 
 " the same fact. She was a Woman of plea- 
 " sure, during a short time, both in Paris, 
 " and here in London ; at which last men- 
 " tioned City, she had picked up a few 
 " Words of English. Prince Nicholas Rad- 
 " zivil, who was driven out of Poland by 
 " the Russians, having met with her, made 
 " her his Mistress, and carried her with him 
 " into Italy. In order to revenge himself on 
 " Catherine, who had expelled him from his 
 " native Country, and confiscated his im- 
 " mense Estates in Lithuania, he resolved
 
 198 HISTORICAL 
 
 " on calling her the Princess Tarrakanoflf, 
 " pretending that she was Elizabeth's Daugh- 
 " ter. Such she was in fact considered to 
 " be by many who saw her; and the report 
 " acquiring strength, soon reached Peters- 
 " burgh. Catherine, naturally alarmed at 
 " the existence of a Female Pretender, who 
 " might lay claim to the very Throne of Rus- 
 " sia ; and being informed that Prince Rad- 
 " zivil asserted her right to the Empire, as 
 " a legitimate Daughter of Elizabeth by 
 " Razoumoffsky, to whom she had been 
 " secretly married ; thought that not a Mo- 
 " ment was to be lost, in securing the person 
 " of so dangerous a rival. She issued private 
 " Orders therefore to Alexis Orloff, enjoining 
 " him to gain possession of the pretended 
 " Princess, at all events, and by every pos- 
 " sible means, either of money, or of violence. 
 "To so great a height did the Empress's 
 " Apprehensions rise, that Orloff avowed to 
 " me, he had received the positive commands 
 "of her Majesty, to pursue her even to 
 " Ragusa, if necessary ; where it was un- 
 " derstood she had retired ; to demand her 
 " from the Government of that small Repub- 
 " lie ; and if they should refuse to give her 
 " up, to bombard the City, and to lay it in
 
 MEMOIRS. 199 
 
 ** Ashes. But, Alexis found means to en- 
 *' trap, or to entice her, without either dis- 
 " turbance or hostility. He treated her as 
 " his Mistress, while he resided at Pisa, and 
 " while she lay on board his Ship at Leg- 
 " horn. These are all the Particulars that I 
 " know relative to her, and all the share that 
 " I had in her Detention, or her Misfortunes." 
 
 It is probable that this recital, however 
 natural and plausible it may appear, or how- 
 ever true it may be in point of fact, will 
 nevertheless by no means carry conviction 
 to every mind. I confess, that it neither 
 produced that Sentiment in me, at the time 
 when Sir John Dick related it ; nor, on the 
 fullest consideration, am I thoroughly per- 
 suaded that the Person in question, was not 
 the Daughter of Elizabeth. It seems to be 
 universally admitted, and 1 have always 
 been so assured, that the Empress did pri- 
 vately espouse Razoumoffsky ; that she had 
 by him, between the years 1740 and 1745? 
 various children ; one of whom was brought 
 up, and called the Princess or Countess Tar- 
 rakanoff. Prince Radzivil might, as is as- 
 serted in " La Vie de Catherine Seconde" 
 have contrived means to carry her off; and
 
 
 200 HISTORICAL 
 
 after accompanying her to Rome, might there 
 have quitted or deserted her. It is unques- 
 tionable, even by Sir John Dick's Account, 
 that Catherine dreaded her ; and that Orloff, 
 by her Orders, decoyed, ensnared, and made 
 himself master of the person of this unfor- 
 tunate Female. But, that in order to effect 
 his base and barbarous Purpose, Orloff 
 actually married her, or pretended so to do ; 
 that she passed several Days under Sir John 
 Dick's roof, in amusement and dissipation ; 
 that " the Consul, his Wife, and the Wife of 
 " Rear Admiral Greig, took their seats by 
 " her in the Barge, which conveyed her on 
 " board the Russian Squadron;" finally, that 
 a British Consul would dishonor himself, his 
 Sovereign, and his Nation, by openly facili- 
 tating so perfidious an Act ; all these Asser- 
 tions of Castera, and many others relative 
 to her treatment on board OrlofTs Ship, 
 appear to me wholly undeserving of credit. 
 They are, indeed, completely disproved by 
 l^ir John Dick's Narrative to me, unless we 
 suppose him utterly devoid of Truth and Ho- 
 nor. On the other hand, that he should have 
 remained silent under such a Charge, made 
 in the face of all Europe, without attempting 
 to repel, or to disprove it, in as public a man-
 
 MEMOIRS. 201 
 
 ner, as it was brought forward; seems almost 
 like a negative admission of its Veracity. 
 His denial of the Accusation, given in private 
 Conversation to me, could not redeem his 
 Character to the World at large. Sir John, 
 we may likewise remember, lay under per- 
 sonal Obligations to Catherine the Second, 
 who had conferred on him one of the Russian 
 Orders of Knighthood ; and from his Con- 
 nexion with whom, while Orloff lay at Leg- 
 horn with her Fleet, he had derived great 
 pecuniary Advantages. The manner in which 
 Alexis treated him, by bringing to his House 
 a Stranger, without previously soliciting Per- 
 mission; whom he never announced to Sir 
 John, or to his Wife, by name; and with 
 whom he lived as his Mistress ; these Facts 
 seem to imply great subservience on the part 
 of the British Consul ; and will probably in- 
 duce us to pause, before we give implicit 
 belief to his Assertions. I leave, however, 
 the decision on this point, to every man's 
 own Opinion. 
 
 But, was the Lady in question, the Daugh- 
 ter of Elizabeth, or not? It seems to me im- 
 possible, for want of Evidence, to reply satis- 
 factorily to the question. I confess however,
 
 202 HISTORICAL 
 
 that I think it more probable She should have 
 been, as Sir John Dick asserted, a German 
 Woman, whom Prince Radzivil had instruct- 
 ed, or induced, to assume the Name and Ti- 
 tle of Princess Tarrakanoff. It is even very 
 difficult altogether to condemn the Empress 
 Catherine, for endeavouring to get possession 
 of her person. For, had She passed over to 
 Ragusa, and from thence into the Ottoman 
 Dominions, she would have been, when once 
 in the hands of the Turks, with whom Russia 
 was at war, a most dangerous Competitor to 
 the Throne. We must recollect, that Cathe- 
 rine herself had attained the Imperial Dignity 
 by a Revolution, and the consequent Destruc- 
 tion of her Husband, without any right of 
 Descent. To Her, an Impostress was nearly 
 as formidable, as a rightful Pretender to the 
 Crown. The History of the false Demetrius, 
 in the Beginning of the seventeenth Century, 
 so famous in the Muscovite Annals, might 
 justly inspire her with apprehension. Simi- 
 lar Scenes might be renewed under her own 
 Reign, in the interior of that vast Empire. 
 Pugatcheff had long been considered, by a 
 great part of the Russian People, as the Em- 
 peror Peter the Third. These Considerations 
 must, at least in a political point of view,
 
 MEMOIRS. 203 
 
 j ustify Catherine for taking measures to pre- 
 vent the Lady in question, from being made 
 an instrument in the hands of vindictive or 
 ambitious individuals, to accomplish their 
 projects of Vengeance against herself. In the 
 eyes of Morality and of Humanity, the whole 
 Reign and Administration of that Empress, 
 however brilliant and imposing it may appear 
 through the medium of Voltaire's, or of the 
 Prince de Ligne's Writings, cannot bear a 
 close Examination, or support a severe Scru- 
 tiny. 
 
 The first Grand Duchess of Russia, Wil- 
 helmina, Princess of Hesse Darmstadt, who, 
 on her Marriage with the Grand Duke Paul, 
 assumed the Name of Natalia Alexiewna; 
 perished, like the pretended Princess Tarra- 
 kanoff, in the Prime of Life, and under Cir- 
 cumstances that excited at the Time, much 
 Commiseration. I have seen the Grand Du- 
 chess in question, at the Drawing-room at the 
 Palace of Peterhoff, in 1774, soon after her 
 Marriage. She had been chosen in prefer- 
 ence to two of her Sisters, who accompani- 
 ed her on the Journey from Germany to Rus- 
 sia. Those Princesses must have been very 
 deficient in personal Attractions, if Paul's
 
 204 HISTORICAL 
 
 Selection resulted from her superiority in that 
 respect, above her Sisters. I have rarely be- 
 held a young person less favored by Nature. 
 She had a scorbutic Humor in her face, nor 
 did her Countenance indicate either intelli- 
 gence or dignity; but she was said to be 
 amiable and pleasing in her Manners. To 
 the great Joy of Catherine, as well as of 
 the Empire at large, which anxiously ex- 
 pected the Birth of an Heir, she became 
 pregnant in 1775. That she died about two 
 Years subsequent to her Marriage, during 
 the Confinement incident to her Accouche- 
 ment, is certain ; but, the precise Nature of 
 her Death is not well ascertained, and pro- 
 duced various Reports, some of which were 
 injurious to the Empress's Reputation. I 
 have, myself, heard them, while I resided 
 at Vienna, from Persons of the highest Dis- 
 tinction, particularly from two Princes of 
 Hesse Philipstahl, within three or four Years 
 after the Grand Duchess's Decease: but, I 
 believe that they were not entitled to Credit, 
 It was likewise generally asserted that the 
 Princess in question had formed a strong 
 Attachment for one of the handsomest, as 
 well as most accomplished young Noblemen 
 about the Court of Petersburgh, with whom
 
 MEMOIRS. 205 
 
 she had entered into a Correspondence of a 
 delicate Description. The Circumstance 
 becoming known to Paul, occasioned Him 
 no ordinary Uneasiness. A Fact which seem- 
 ed to give Probability to the Story, is that 
 the Nobleman himself to whom I allude, was 
 then resident at Vienna; to which City he 
 had been sent, as common Fame affirmed, by 
 Catherine, on the complaints of her Son, im- 
 mediately after the Death of the unfortunate 
 Princess in question. I knew him very fami- 
 liarly, while at Vienna. He since filled the 
 post of Envoy from the Empress of Russia, 
 at an Italian Court ; where he was believed to 
 have carried his Temerity, and his Success, 
 even higher than he had done at Petersburgh. 
 Few Men whom I have ever seen or known, 
 were more formed by Nature to be beloved 
 by Women. His Figure was advantageous ; 
 his Manners, though lofty, yet were gay and 
 captivating, whenever he desired to conciliate 
 good-will ; and his Countenance, which some- 
 what resembled that of a Calmuck, had in 
 it nevertheless, an air of great Distinction, 
 Spirit, and Intelligence. He had served in 
 the Russian Fleet, under Alexis Orloff; was 
 present at the memorable Victory of Tscbis- 
 me, on the coast of Natolia, in 1770, where
 
 206 HISTORICAL 
 
 the Turkish Squadron in that Bay was de- 
 stroyed ; and had acquired, under Admirals 
 Elphinstone and Greig, not only a know- 
 ledge of naval Tactics, but of the English 
 language likewise, which he spoke with ad- 
 mirable ease and fluency. The secret His- 
 tory of the Imperial Family of Russia, from 
 the Reign of Peter the First inclusive, down 
 to the present Time, has already furnished, 
 and will, as it gradually becomes known, 
 continue to afford, Matter of the most curious, 
 as well as interesting Nature. When we re- 
 flect that three Emperors, Peter, Ivan, and 
 Paul, have successively perished by violent 
 Means, within little more than half a Cen- 
 tury ; and when we consider that this stu- 
 pendous Empire, embracing so vast a Por- 
 tion of the Globe, has been governed almost 
 exclusively by Women, from the Year 1725, 
 down to 1796, including a Space of more 
 than seventy Years ; lastly, when we recol- 
 lect that of the four Females who have suc- 
 cessively swayed the Sceptre of Peter the 
 Great, two, namely, Catherine the First and 
 Second, were Germans or Livonians, uncon- 
 nected except by Marriage, with the ancient 
 Czars or Sovereigns of Muscovy ; when we 
 contemplate these Facts, we cannot be sur-
 
 MEMOIRS. 207 
 
 prized if this Asiatic Empire, newly assimi- 
 lated to our European Monarchies and States, 
 should present Scenes altogether unlike the 
 Manners of London, Paris, or Vienna. 
 
 After the Death of the Grand Duchess, 
 Catherine was at least determined to lose no 
 time in providing for her Son a second Wife. 
 For this purpose, she applied, almost imme- 
 diately subsequent to the Decease of the un- 
 fortunate Natalia Alexiewna, to the great 
 Frederic, King of Prussia, requesting him 
 to select for Paul, a German Princess, to 
 supply the vacancy occasioned in the im- 
 perial Family. She even sketched out with 
 her own Hand, the prominent qualities of 
 person and of mind, which .she considered 
 as principally requisite in the object of his 
 Choice. This delicate Commission Frederic 
 executed with great Ability ; and, having ful- 
 ly ascertained the ground, he recommended 
 the Princess Sophia of Wirtemberg to the 
 Empress, for her future Daughter-in-law. It 
 was perhaps impossible to have made a more 
 judicious Selection for such a dangerous 
 Eminence, which frequently conducted to a 
 Convent, to Siberia, or to a Grave. She was 
 not quite seventeen years of Age ; and she
 
 208 HISTORICAL 
 
 possessed, besides the Graces of youth, per- 
 sonal Attractions, well calculated to retain 
 the Grand Duke's Affections. Her Under- 
 standing, solid, and her Deportment, blame- 
 less, secured universal Esteem ; while, at the 
 same time, she neither displayed such Ta- 
 lents, energy of Character, or Ambition, as 
 could render her an object of Catherine's Ap- 
 prehension. Paul, accompanied by Marshal 
 JRomanzoff, whose Victories over the Turks 
 have rendered him so justly celebrated, was 
 sent by Catherine, in 1776, to Berlin; where 
 Frederic, after contributing to procure him 
 a Wife, entertained him at Potzdam, in the 
 most splendid manner. 
 
 At one of these Entertainments, given, if I 
 recollect right, in the new Palace near Sans 
 Souci; in the midst of the Dinner, a large 
 piece of the Ceiling fell down on the Table, 
 involving the room and the Company in dust, 
 confusion, and astonishment : not unlike the 
 Accident which Fundanius relates as hap- 
 pening at Nasidienus's Supper. The King, 
 with admirable presence of mind, instantly 
 throwing his Arms round Paul, who sat next 
 him, held the Grand Duke closely embraced, 
 without suffering him to stir, till the Cause,
 
 MEMOIRS. 209 
 
 as well as the Consequences of the Disaster, 
 were ascertained. When it was discovered to 
 have arisen only from a defect in the plaister 
 of the Ceiling, and to have been altogether 
 casual, a Courier was immediately dispatch- 
 ed to Petersburgh, stating the particulars to 
 Catherine ; assuring her at the same time, 
 that her Son was in perfect safety. We can- 
 not help admiring the quickness of Frede- 
 ric's perception, which, ignorant as he was 
 from what cause so unusual and alarming an 
 Event originated, led him, without a Mo- 
 ment's delay, to participate the Danger and 
 the Misfortune, if such existed, with the 
 Grand Duke. In fact, they must have pe- 
 rished together, if they perished at all. The 
 malignity of Mankind would unquestionably 
 have suspected or attributed Treachery of 
 some kind, had any fatal Accident, in which 
 the King was not enveloped, befallen his 
 Guest. Frederic, by his promptitude, ob- 
 viated the possibility of misrepresentation, 
 either at Petersburgh, or in any other of the 
 Courts of Europe. 
 
 During the first ten or fifteen years of the 
 Reign of Catherine the Second, it was com- 
 monly believed ; and in Poland, where Men 
 
 VOL. i. p
 
 216 HISTORICAL 
 
 ventured to state their Opinions in Conversa- 
 tion, with more freedom than they dared to 
 do in Russia, I have heard it often main- 
 tained in private Society ; that the Grand 
 Duke Paul would, sooner or later, disap- 
 pear, as Peter the Third did in J 762, and as 
 the unfortunate Emperor Ivan did in 1764. 
 If Catherine had dreaded her Son, such an 
 Event might have been not impossible : but 
 she knew him, and did not fear him. The 
 strongest mark of her superiority to all ap- 
 prehension from his machinations, or efforts 
 to ascend the Russian Throne before his 
 time, was the permission which she gave 
 him to travel over Germany, France, and 
 Italy. Peter the First never extended such 
 a Degree of Emancipation to his Son, the 
 Czarowitz Alexis. Paul was accompanied 
 on his Tour, by the Grand Duchess, for 
 whom he then manifested the utmost fond- 
 ness ; though the testimonies which he gave 
 her of his affection, were not always regula- 
 ted by delicacy or propriety. Sir William 
 Hamilton told me, that when Paul arrived 
 at Naples in 1782, he had the honor to ac- 
 company the Grand Duke and Duchess, 
 on their Excursions round that City ; in Or- 
 der to view Portici, Pompeii, and the other
 
 MEMOIRS. 211 
 
 principal objects of Curiosity visited by Tra- 
 vellers. " The first time," said Sir William, 
 " that I was with them in a Coach, we had 
 " not proceeded far, when Paul, as if un- 
 '' conscious that I was present, throwing his 
 " Arms about the Grand Duchess, began to 
 " kiss her with as much warmth, as he could 
 (f have shewn if they had been alone, and 
 t f newly married. I was somewhat embar- 
 " rassed at this unusual display of matrimo- 
 *' niai Attachment, hardly knowing which 
 f< way to direct my view ; for there was no 
 " other person with us in the Carriage : an4 
 " as 1 sat opposite to their Imperial High- 
 " nesses, I could not easily avoid seeing all 
 " that passed, though I affected to look 
 " through the glass, at the objects without. 
 " At length, the Grand Duke addressing 
 " himself to me, said, ' Monsieur Le Cheva- 
 " Her, J'aime beaucoup ma Femme.' ft was 
 " impossible not to credit the Assertion, after 
 " the proofs which he had just exhibited. 
 " But we had not proceeded a Mile fur- 
 " ther, when he recommenced the same 
 " demonstrations of Attachment, which he 
 " repeated many times before we arrived at 
 " Portici: usually observing to me, each 
 ** itime, ' Vous voyez que J'aime beaucoup
 
 212 HISTORICAL 
 
 " ma Femme.' I could only express my sa- 
 " tisfaction at his Felicity, concealing my as- 
 " tonishment at the Testimonies of it which 
 " 1 had witnessed." It would have been hap- 
 py for this violent and infatuated Prince, if 
 he had never ascended the Russian Throne, 
 but had always continued in the state of po- 
 litical Annihilation to which his Mother had 
 reduced him, and in which she retained him 
 to the end of her life. 
 
 The pretended Princess Tarrakanoff, and 
 the first Grand Duchess of Russia, were not 
 the only Females of high rank, who expired 
 by a premature Death, under Catherine's 
 Reign. Augusta Caroline, eldest Daughter 
 of the late celebrated Duke of Brunswic- 
 Wolfenbuttel, who fell at Auerstadt in 1806, 
 is supposed to have perished in a manner 
 equally mysterious. This Princess, who 
 was born towards the end of the year 1764; 
 before she attained the Age of sixteen, was 
 married to the Prince of Wirtemberg, since 
 elevated by Bonaparte to the Dignity of a 
 King. He was then about twenty-six years 
 old, and might be considered as eventual 
 presumptive Heir to his Uncle, the reigning 
 Duke of Wirtemberg, Charles Eugene, who
 
 MEMOIRS. 213 
 
 had no Issue. When I was at the Court of 
 Brunswic, in the Autumn of 1777, at which 
 time the Princess was near thirteen, I saw 
 her more than once, in the Apartments of her 
 Mother. She had a very fair Complexion, 
 light Hair, pleasing Features, and an interest- 
 ing Figure. Some years after her Marriage, 
 she accompanied the Prince her Husband 
 into Russia, when he entered into the mili- 
 tary Service of that Crown; to the Heir of 
 which, as has been already stated, his Sister 
 was married. They resided during some 
 time at Petersburgh, or in other parts of the 
 Russian Empire; but in 1787 he quitted Ca- 
 therine's Service and Dominions ; leaving 
 his Wife behind, of whose conduct, it was 
 asserted, he had great reason to complain. 
 They had then three Children living, two 
 Sons and a Daughter, whom the Empress 
 permitted him to take away, when he with- 
 drew from her Employ ; but she retained the 
 Princess under her own Protection. At the 
 end of a year or two, it was notified to the 
 Prince of Wirtemberg, as well as to the 
 Duke of Brunswic, by order of the Empress, 
 that the Consort of the one, and the Daugh- 
 ter of the other, was no more. The Duke, 
 her Father, immediately demanded in the
 
 214 HISTORICAL 
 
 most pressing terms, that her Body might 
 be delivered up to him : but this request 
 was never granted, nor did he even receive 
 any such authentic proofs of her Decease, 
 and still less of the Circumstances attending 
 it, as could satisfy him on the subject. 
 Doubts were not only entertained whether 
 she died a natural Death, but it remained 
 questionable whether she did not still sur- 
 vive, and was not existing in Siberia, or in 
 the Polar Deserts ; like many other illustri- 
 ous Exiles of her own Family, who had been 
 banished thither by the Empress Elizabeth, 
 when she ascended the Throne in 1741* on 
 the Deposition of Ivan. 
 
 In May, 1797, the Princess Royal of Eng- 
 land was married to the Prince of Wirtem- 
 berg; who, before the conclusion of that year, 
 became Duke, by the decease of Frederic 
 Eugene his Father. Early in the Summer 
 of 1798, a Gentleman conversing with me on 
 the subject of the first Princess of Wirtem- 
 berg's Death, assured me that he had seien 
 and perused all the papers relative to her Im- 
 prisonment and Decease ; which, at the de- 
 sire of the Prince himself, and by his Au- 
 thority, had been transmitted to George the
 
 MEMOIRS. 215 
 
 Third ; who, after a full inspection of them, 
 became perfectly convinced of his having 
 had no part, direct or indirect, in that dark 
 and melancholy Transaction. 
 
 " Frederic William, reigning Duke of 
 " Wirtemberg," said he, " entered when 
 " young, as is well known, into the Prussian 
 " Service. Old Frederic liked and distin- 
 " guished him. Wishing to attach him to the 
 " House of Brandenburgh by permanent 
 " ties, and considering him as a man of pro- 
 " raising Abilities, the King himself set on 
 " foot, and finally concluded his Marriage 
 " with the eldest Daughter of his own fa- 
 " vorite Nephew and General, the Duke of 
 " Brunswic. This Event took place in 1780. 
 " About five years afterwards, Frederic 
 " being disposed to form a second Alliance 
 " with the Family of Wirtemberg, by marry- 
 " ing his great Nephew, the present King of 
 " Prussia, as soon as his age would allow, 
 " with the Princess Elizabeth, Sister to the 
 " Prince ; dispatched him to Petersburgh 
 " for that purpose. His Instructions were, 
 " to apply to his Sister the Grand Duchess, 
 " for the exertion of her influence at the 
 " Court of Stutgard, in order to prevail on
 
 216 HISTORICAL 
 
 " the Duke to promise his Niece to the 
 " eventual Heir of the Prussian Monarchy. 
 " This Negotiation was however rendered 
 " unsuccessful, by the demand which the 
 " Emperor Joseph the Second made about 
 " the same time, of the Princess Elizabeth 
 " of Wirtemberg, for his Nephew, Francis, 
 " hereditary Prince of Tuscany, now Em- 
 " peror of Austria; a Marriage which was 
 " actually accomplished early in 1788. 
 
 " When the Prince of Wirtemberg arrived 
 " in the Capital of the Russian Empire, this 
 " Austrian Alliance was already settled ; or 
 " at least, was too far advanced in its Pro- 
 " gress, to be overturned by his interference. 
 " After making therefore every effort in his 
 " power, through the Grand Duchess, to 
 " prevent its Accomplishment ; and finding 
 " these Exertions fruitless, he returned to 
 " Potzdam. Whether Frederic suspected 
 " any duplicity or insincerity on his part ; 
 " or, whether it was the result merely of 
 " Disappointment; it is certain that he re*- 
 " ceived the Prince very coldly: and the 
 " Empress of Russia having soon afterwards 
 " invited him into her Service, he quitted 
 " that of Prussia, and revisited Petersburgh.
 
 MEMOIRS. 217 
 
 " She employed him in the war that began in 
 " 1787 against the Turks ; and he command- 
 " ed one of the three Armies which took 
 " the field. The Van, consisting of forty 
 " thousand Men, was entrusted to him. He 
 "is said to have displayed great military Ta- 
 " lent, to have distinguished himself much, 
 " and to have rendered essential Services to 
 " Catherine. 
 
 " At the time that he entered the Russian 
 " Service, he carried the Princess his Wife 
 " with him to Petersburgh, as well as the two 
 " Sons and Daughter which she had brought 
 " him. Being in the flower of her youth, 
 " endowed with many amiable qualities of 
 " mind and of deportment, she soon became 
 " a Favorite of Catherine ; in whose Society 
 " and intimate Confidence she occupied a 
 " distinguished place. It can hardly how- 
 " ever excite Astonishment, that such an in- 
 " tercourse should have been calculated to 
 " 'corrupt her Morals. The Court and Pa- 
 " lace of the Empress, were Scenes of dissi- 
 " pation and licentiousness. Yet, when the 
 " Prince went to serve against the Turks, he, 
 " of necessity, left his Wife exposed to all 
 " these Temptations. In effect, during his
 
 218 HISTORICAL 
 
 " absence, she conducted herself so impru- 
 " dently, that when he returned, after the 
 " Conclusion of the Campaign, to Peters- 
 " burgh, he found himself compelled to 
 " adopt some strong Measures respecting 
 " her. Being placed in this painful situa- 
 " tion, he wrote to her Father, the Duke of 
 " Brunswic, informing him of his Daughter's 
 " misconduct, and consulting him on the 
 " mode of action proper to be pursued under 
 " those Circumstances. It was agreed be- 
 " tween them, that as a preliminary step, 
 " she should be removed out of Russia ; and 
 " the Prince accordingly demanded Cathe- 
 " rine's permission to quit her Dominions, 
 " together with his Wife and his family. The 
 " Empress allowed him to retire, and to take 
 " with him his Children ; but she perempto- 
 " rily refused to permit him to carry his 
 " Consort back to Germany. All remon- 
 " strance proving vain, the Princess there- 
 " fore remained behind, and he quitted 
 " Petersburgh, with his sons and daughter, 
 " to return to Wirtemberg. 
 
 " About a fortnight after his Departure, 
 " the Princess, without any reason assigned, 
 " was sent by Order of Catherine, to the
 
 MEMOIRS. 219 
 
 " Castle of Lhode, about two hundred Miles 
 " from Petersburgh ; but, in what part or 
 " Province of that vast Empire, I am unable 
 " to assert. There, it seems, under close 
 " Confinement, she remained about eighteen 
 " Months: but, all her German Attendants, 
 " male and female, were withdrawn from her. 
 " At the end of that time, the Prince re- 
 " ceived letters from the Empress, informing 
 " him that his wife was dead of a Hemor- 
 " rhage. Similar Information was conveyed 
 " by Catherine, to the Duke of Brunswic, 
 " the unfortunate Princess's Father. No Par- 
 " ticulars were stated; nor, as far as appears, 
 " were any other Circumstances ever known 
 " respecting her. Thus situated, the Duke 
 " of Brunswic, conscious that he could nei- 
 " ther bring his Daughter to life, nor call the 
 " Empress to account, acquiesced patiently 
 " in the Calamity: but, during some years, 
 " he did not communicate to the Duchess his 
 " Wife, the intelligence of her Daughter's 
 " Death. She therefore remaining in igno- 
 " ranee of the Catastrophe, continued to be- 
 " lieve that the Princess was still confined at 
 " Lhode, or existing somewhere in the De- 
 " serts of Russia. The Duchess used even 
 " to speak of her, as being alive in Siberia;
 
 220 HISTORICAL 
 
 " and this fact will account for the universa- 
 " lity of the report." 
 
 If the Account given me by Sir John 
 Dick, relative to the supposed Princess Tar- 
 rakanoff, left many Circumstances obscure 
 and unexplained in the history of that Female ; 
 it must be owned that, after considering this 
 Narrative, no less uncertainty still pervades 
 the story of the Princess of Wirtemberg. It 
 is natural to ask, why did Catherine cause 
 the Princess to be imprisoned ? Her Gal- 
 lantries, however culpable or notorious they 
 might be, yet constituted no Crime against 
 the Empress of Russia; who exhibited in 
 her own Conduct, an example of emancipa- 
 tion from all restraint and decorum on the ar- 
 ticle of female irregularities of Deportment. 
 It was the Prince her Husband, whom she 
 had dishonoured and incensed. What proof 
 is adduced, except assertion, that he did 
 not know of the intentions of Catherine to 
 confine and banish her? In the case of the 
 two Emperors, Peter the Third, and Ivan ; 
 as well as in the instance of the pretended 
 Princess Tarrakanoff; the motives which 
 might impel Her to deprive them of life, are 
 pbvious. But, none such appear in the in-
 
 MEMOIRS. 221 
 
 stance before us. There are, moreover, other 
 Particulars which may lead us to hesitate in 
 forming a decisive Opinion on the subject 
 The Death of the Princess of Wirtemberg at 
 Lhode, was announced and stated in all the 
 German Almanacks, printed by Authority, 
 to have taken place on " the 27th Septem- 
 " ber, 1788." Her Husband remained a Wi- 
 dower, near eight years after that event, be- 
 fore he aspired to the Hand of the Princess 
 Royal of Great Britain. During so long a 
 period of time, he seems to have adopted no 
 Measures for repelling the calumnious re- 
 ports circulated all over Europe; reports 
 which, however false, (and such I esteem 
 them to have been,) yet had made the most 
 unfavourable impression, even in England. 
 George the Third became indeed perfectly 
 convinced of his innocence, before he con- 
 sented to the union of the Prince with his 
 eldest Daughter. But, though the King yield- 
 ed to the undeniable proofs brought upon this 
 point, yet, from paternal Fondness or Solici- 
 tude, he did it with reluctance. So far, in- 
 deed, was he from pushing forward the Alli- 
 ance, that 1 know from good Authority, he of- 
 fered the Princess, after all the Preliminaries 
 were adjusted, and the Marriage was fixed, to
 
 222 HISTORICAL 
 
 break it off, if she chose to decline it; taking 
 on himself personally, the whole responsibi- 
 lity of its failure. Over the precise nature 
 of the first Princess of Wirtemberg's Illness 
 and Death, a deep or impenetrable Veil is 
 drawn. We must leave it to Time to unfold, 
 if it does not rather remain, as is more pro- 
 bable, for ever problematical. 
 
 Before I quit this subject, cannot help 
 remarking, that during the course of the 
 eighteenth Century, the Family of Brunswic, 
 in its different Branches, produced no less 
 than five Princesses, who exhibited in suc- 
 cession, the most conspicuous examples of 
 human Infelicity. The first of them was 
 Sophia of Brims wic Zell, married to George 
 the First ; ^who, for her alledged, but un- 
 proved Gallantries with Count Konig&mark, 
 was confined during near forty years, at the 
 sequestered Seat or Castle of Ahlden, in the 
 Electorate of Hanover, where she expired 
 in 1726. Charkrtte-Chris-tina of Brunswic 
 Slanckenberg, who espoused in 1711, the 
 Czarowitz Alexis, only son of Peter the 
 Great; a Princess endowed by Nature with 
 almost every amiable and estimable quality 
 of Body and of Mind; equally beautiful and
 
 MEMOIRS. 223 
 
 virtuous ; fell a Victim, in the flower of her 
 youth, to the ferocious Treatment that she 
 experienced from her Husband. She died at 
 Petersburgh, in Child-bed, at twenty-one 
 years of age, in 1715; or at least, She dis- 
 appeared : for her Death has been con- 
 tested in the strongest manner : lamented by 
 the whole Empire, except by Alexis, whose 
 brutal Character rendered him incapable of 
 appreciating her value. Brunswic Wolfenbut- 
 tel furnished the next Instance, in the person 
 of Elizabeth, married in 1765, to the late 
 King of Prussia, then only Prince Royal ; 
 divorced four years afterwards, for her Irre- 
 gularities ; confined at Stettin, where I have 
 seen her in 1774; and relative to whose pri- 
 vate History I could state from high Autho- 
 rity, the most minute, as well as curious 
 Particulars, if I were not restrained by Mo- 
 tives of Respect and Delicacy towards the 
 illustrious Persons who are connected with 
 Her by Descent, or by Alliance. I believe 
 She still survives, forgotten and unknown, in 
 some part of the Prussian Dominions ; after 
 having witnessed the temporary Subversion 
 of her own House, and the Calamities in- 
 flicted on that of Brandenburgh, by Bona- 
 parte. Caroline Matilda of Brunswic Lu-
 
 224 HISTORICAL 
 
 nenburgh, posthumous Daughter of Frederic, 
 late Prince of Wales, and sister of George 
 the Third, is the Fourth in this Enumeration. 
 To Her I had the Honor of being well 
 known, have dined frequently at her Table, 
 and was employed by Her during the Year 
 preceding her Decease, in conducting Ne- 
 gotiations of the deepest Importance to her 
 future Greatness, as well as Felicity. Ba- 
 nished by a Revolution, from Denmark, in 
 1772, effected in the name of Christian the 
 Seventh, her imbecile Husband; She only 
 survived it about three years, terminating 
 her short Career, in the prime of life, at Zell, 
 in 1775. Augusta Caroline of Brunswic 
 Wolfenbuttel, whose melancholy History, 
 and whose ambiguous End, we have been 
 surveying, continues, but does not terminate 
 the List. It must be esteemed singular, that 
 in the lapse of scarcely a hundred years, 
 such a Fatality should seem to have marked, 
 and still to pursue, so many Females of that 
 illustrious Family. 
 
 In the Autumn of 1778, 1 visited Dresden 
 for the second time : a Court which was ren- 
 dered peculiarly agreeable to the English at 
 that period, by the hospitality and polished
 
 MEMOIRS. 225 
 
 Manners of His Majesty's Minister to Sax- 
 ony, Sir John Stepney; one of the finest 
 Gentlemen who have been employed on fo- 
 reign Missions, during the course of the pre- 
 sent Reign. Dresden was then a place where 
 the Illumines had made a deep and general 
 impression on the public Mind; Schrepfer 
 having chosen it, only a few years earlier, 
 for the scene of his famous Exhibition of the 
 Apparition of the Chevalier de Saxe. Hav- 
 ing given in a former work, some account of 
 that extraordinary Imposition, I shall not re- 
 sume the subject here ; but I cannot help re- 
 lating another somewhat similar Story, which 
 was told me during my residence in Dres- 
 den, by the Count de Felkesheim. He was a 
 Livonian Gentleman, settled in Saxony, of a 
 very improved Understanding, equally supe- 
 rior to Credulity, as to Superstition. Being 
 together on an Excursion of Pleasure, in the 
 Month of October, 1778, and our Discourse 
 accidentally turning on the Character and 
 Performances of Schrepfer ; " I have con- 
 versed," said he to me, " with several of the 
 " Individuals who were present at the Scene 
 " of the Spectre or Phantom, presented by 
 " him in the Gallery of the Palace of the 
 " Duke of Courland. They all agreed in 
 VOL. i. Q
 
 226 HISTORICAL 
 
 " their account of the leading particulars, 
 
 " Though I do not pretend to explain by 
 
 " what process or Machinery, that Business 
 
 " was conducted, I have always considered 
 
 '< him as an artful Impostor, and his audience 
 
 " as Dupes. Yet am I not so decidedly scep- 
 
 " tical on the possibility of supernatural Ap- 
 
 " pearances, as to treat them with ridicule, 
 
 " because they may seem to be unphiloso- 
 
 " j)hical. I received my Education in the 
 
 " University of Konigsberg, where I enjoyed 
 
 " the advantage of attending Lectures in 
 
 " Ethics and Moral Philosophy, delivered 
 
 " by a Professor who was esteemed a very 
 
 " superior man in those Branches of Science. 
 
 " He had, nevertheless, though an Ecclesi- 
 
 " astic, the reputation of being tinctured 
 
 " with incredulity on various points con- 
 
 " nected with revealed Religion. When 
 
 " therefore it became necessary for him, in 
 
 " the course of his Lectures, to treat on the 
 
 " nature of Spirit, as detached from Matter; 
 
 " to discuss the Immortality of the Soul ; 
 
 " and to enter on the Doctrine of a Fu- 
 
 " ture State ; I listened with more than or- 
 
 " dinary attention, to his Opinions. In speak- 
 
 " ing of all these mysterious Subjects, there 
 
 " appeared to me to be so visible an embar^
 
 MEMOIRS. 227 
 
 " rassment, both in his language and his ex- 
 " pressions, that I felt the strongest Curio- 
 " sity to question him further respecting 
 " them. Finding myself alone with him 
 " soon afterwards, I ventured to state to 
 " him my remarks on his Deportment, and I 
 " entreated him to tell me if they were well 
 " founded, or only imaginary Suggestions." 
 
 " The Hesitation which you noticed," an- 
 swered he, " resulted from the conflict that 
 " takes place within me, when I am at- 
 " tempting to convey my ideas on a subject, 
 " where my understanding is at variance 
 " with the testimony of my senses. I am, 
 " equally from reason and reflection, disposed 
 " to consider with incredulity and contempt, 
 " the existence of Apparitions. But, an 
 *' Appearance which I have witnessed with 
 " my own Eyes, as far as they, or any of the 
 " perceptions can be confided in; and which 
 " has even received a sort of subsequent 
 " confirmation, from other circumstances 
 " connected with the original fact, leaves me 
 " in that state of Scepticism and Suspense 
 " which pervaded my Discourse. 1 will 
 " communicate to you its cause. Having 
 " been brought up to the Profession of the 
 Q 2
 
 228 HISTORICAL 
 
 " Church, I was presented by Frederic Wil- 
 " liam the First, late King of Prussia, to a 
 " small Benefice situated in the interior of 
 '* the Country, at a considerable distance 
 " South of Konigsberg. I repaired thither, 
 " in order to take possession of my Living ; 
 " and found a very neat Parsonage House, 
 " where I passed the Night in the Bed- 
 " chamber which had been occupied by 
 " my predecessor. It was in the longest 
 :< Days of Summer; and on the following 
 " Morning, which was Sunday, while lying 
 " awake, the Curtains of the Bed being un- 
 " drawn, and it being broad day-light, I be- 
 " held the figure of a Man, habited in a sort 
 " of loose Gown, standing at a reading Desk, 
 " on which lay a large Book, the leaves of 
 " which he appeared to turn over at inter- 
 " vals. On each side of him stood a little 
 " Boy, in whose faces he looked earnestly 
 " from time to time; and as he looked, he 
 " seemed always to heave a deep Sigh. His 
 " Countenance, pale and disconsolate, indi- 
 " cated severe distress of mind. I had the 
 " most perfect view of these Objects ; but, 
 " being impressed with too much terror and 
 " apprehension to rise, or to address myself 
 " to the appearances before me, I remained
 
 MEMOIRS. 229 
 
 " for some Minutes, a silent and breathless 
 " Spectator, without uttering a word, or al- 
 " tering my position. At length, the Man 
 " closed the Book, and then taking the two 
 " Children, one in each Hand, he led them 
 " slowly across the room ; my Eyes eagerly 
 " following him, till the three figures gradu- 
 " ally disappeared, or were lost behind an 
 " iron Stove, which stood at the farthest 
 " Corner of the Apartment. 
 
 " However deeply and awfully I was af- 
 " fected by the sight which I had witnessed, 
 " and however incapable I was of explaining 
 "it to my own satisfaction, yet I recovered 
 " sufficiently the possession of my mind, to 
 " get up ; and having hastily dressed myself, 
 " I left the House. The Sun was long risen, 
 " and directing my steps to the Church, I 
 " found that it was open ; but, the Sexton 
 " had quitted it, and on entering the Chancel 
 " my Mind and Imagination were so strongly 
 " impressed by the Scene which had recently 
 " passed, that I endeavoured to dissipate 
 " the recollection, by considering the Objects 
 " around me. In almost all the Lutheran 
 " Churches of the Prussian Dominions, it is 
 " an established usage to hang up against
 
 230 HISTORICAL 
 
 " the walls of some part of the Building, the 
 " Portraits of the successive Pastors or Cler- 
 " gymen who have held the Living. A num- 
 " ber of these Paintings, rudely performed, 
 " were suspended in one of the Aisles. But 
 " I had no sooner fixed my Eyes on the last 
 " in the range, which was the Portrait of my 
 " immediate predecessor, than they became 
 " rivetted to the object ; as I instantly re- 
 " cognized the same face which I had beheld 
 " in my Bed-chamber, though not clouded 
 " by the same deep expression of Melancholy 
 " or Distress. 
 
 " The Sexton entered, as I was still con- 
 " templating this interesting Head, and 1 im- 
 " mediately began a Conversation with him, 
 " on the subject of the persons who had pre- 
 " ceded me in the Living. He remembered 
 " several Incumbents, concerning whom, re- 
 " spectively, I made various inquiries, till I 
 " concluded by the last, relative to whose 
 " History I was particularly inquisitive." 
 " We considered him," said the Sexton, " as 
 " one of the most learned and amiable Men 
 " who have ever resided among us. His 
 " Charities and Benevolence endeared him to 
 " all his parishioners, who will long lament
 
 MEMOIRS. 231 
 
 ** his loss. But he was carried off in the 
 " middle of his Days, by a lingering illness, 
 " the cause of which has given rise to many 
 " unpleasant reports among us, and which 
 " still forms matter of Conjecture. It is 
 " however commonly believed, that he died 
 " of a broken Heart." My Curiosity being 
 ." still more warmly excited by the mention 
 " of this circumstance, I eagerly pressed him 
 " to disclose to me what he knew or had 
 " heard On the subject. " Nothing respecting 
 " it," answered he, " is absolutely known ; but 
 " Scandal had propagated a story of his 
 " having formed a criminal Connexion with 
 " a young Woman of the neighbourhood, by 
 " whom, it was even asserted, that he had 
 " two Sons. As a confirmation of the report, 
 " I know that there certainly were two Chil- 
 " dren, who have been seen at the parsonage; 
 " Boys of about four or five years old. But, 
 " they suddenly disappeared, some time be- 
 " fore the decease of their supposed Father; 
 ." though to what place they are sent, or what 
 " is become of them, we are wholly ignorant. 
 " It is equally certain, that the Surmises and 
 ft unfavorable Opinions formed respecting 
 " this mysterious Business, which must ne- 
 * cessarily have reached him, precipitated,
 
 232 HISTORICAL 
 
 " if they did not produce, the Disorder of 
 " which our late Pastor died : but he is 
 " gone to his account, and we are bound to 
 " think charitably of the departed." 
 
 " It is unnecessary to say with what Emo- 
 " tions 1 listened to this relation, which re- 
 " called to my Imagination, and seemed to 
 " give proof of the Existence, of all that I 
 " had seen. Yet, unwilling to suffer my 
 " mind to become enslaved by Phantoms 
 " which might have been the effect of error 
 " or deception, I neither communicated to 
 " the Sexton, the Circumstance which I 
 " had just witnessed, nor even permitted 
 " myself to quit the Chamber where it had 
 " taken place. I continued to lodge there, 
 " without ever again witnessing any similar 
 " Appearance ; and the recollection itself 
 " insensibly began to wear away as the 
 " Autumn advanced. When the approach 
 " of Winter rendered it necessary to light 
 " fires through the House, I ordered the iron 
 " Stove that stood in the room, behind 
 " which, the figure which I had beheld, to- 
 " gether with the two Boys, seemed to dis- 
 " appear, to be heated for the purpose of 
 " warming the Apartment. Some difficulty
 
 MEMOIRS. 233 
 
 " was experienced in making the attempt, 
 " the Stove not only smoking intolerably, 
 " but, emitting a most offensive Smell. Hav- 
 " ing, therefore, sent for a Blacksmith to 
 " inspect and repair it, he discovered in the 
 " inside, at the farthest extremity, the Bones 
 " of two small human Bodies, corresponding 
 " perfectly in size, as well as in other re- 
 " spects, with the description given me by 
 " the Sexton, of the two Boys who had been 
 " seen at the parsonage. This last Circum- 
 " stance completed my astonishment, and 
 " appeared to confer a sort of reality on an 
 " Appearance, which might otherwise have 
 " been considered as a delusion of the Senses. 
 " I resigned the Living, quitted the place, 
 " and returned to Konigsberg : but it has 
 " produced upon my mind the deepest Im- 
 " pression, and has, in its effects, given rise 
 " to that uncertainty and contradiction of 
 " Sentiment which you remarked in my late 
 " Discourse." Such was Count Felkesheim's 
 Story, which, from its singularity appeared 
 to me deserving of Commemoration, in what- 
 ever Contempt we may justly hold similar 
 Anecdotes. 
 
 One of the most interesting portions of my
 
 234 HISTORICAL 
 
 life, was the time that I passed at Naples, in 
 the Summer of 1 779. Sir William Hamilton, 
 His Majesty's Minister, constituted in him- 
 . self the greatest source of entertainment, no 
 less than of instruction, which that Capital 
 then afforded to Strangers. He honored me 
 with his friendship, which he continued to 
 the end of his life. In his person, though 
 tall and meagre, with a dark Complexion, a 
 very aquiline Nose, and a figure, which 
 always reminded me of Rolando in " Gil 
 Bias;" he had nevertheless such an air of 
 intelligence, blended with distinction in his 
 Countenance, as powerfully attracted and 
 conciliated every beholder. His Mother, 
 Lady Archibald Hamilton, enjoyed, as is 
 well known, a very distinguished place in 
 the favor of Frederic, late Prince of Wales ; 
 and Sir William himself was brought up 
 from early life, with His present Majesty, to 
 whom he became, after his Accession to the 
 Crown, an Equerry. At a very early period 
 he entered into the Army, and was at the 
 Battle of Fontenoy, as well as, I think, at 
 that of La Feldt. 
 
 The versatility of Sir William Hamilton's 
 Character, constituted one of the most in-
 
 MEMOIRS. 235 
 
 teresting features of his Composition. En- 
 dowed with a superior understanding, a phi- 
 losophic mind, and a strong inclination to 
 the study of many Branches of Science, or 
 of polite letters, which he cultivated with 
 distinguished success ; he was equally keen 
 as a Sportsman, in all the exercises of the 
 field. After being actively occupied in stu- 
 dying the Phenomena of Vesuvius, like the 
 Elder Pliny ; or in exploring the Antiquities 
 of Pompeii and of Stabia, with as much 
 Enthusiasm as Pausanias did those of an- 
 cient Greece; he would pass whole Days, 
 and almost Weeks, with the King of Naples, 
 either hunting or shooting in the royal 
 Woods ; or more laboriously engaged in an 
 open Boat, exposed to the rays of a burning 
 Sun, harpooning fish in the Bay of Castella- 
 mare. When beyond seventy years of age, 
 he preserved undiminished his love of these 
 Sports, particularly of fishing, which he 
 followed with great ardor; thus mingling 
 pursuits or passions of the Mind and of the 
 Body, rarely united in the same Man. I 
 have seen him, not more than two years 
 before his Decease, perform the "Tarentella;" 
 an Apulian Dance, which, as it is undoubk 
 edly a copy of the Bacchant Amusements of
 
 236 HISTORICAL 
 
 Antiquity, demanded no slender portion of 
 animal strength and spirits. The occasion 
 was so remarkable, that 1 am induced to 
 relate the particulars. Intelligence of the 
 glorious Victory obtained by the English 
 fleet under Lord Nelson, before Copenhagen, 
 arrived in London, on Wednesday, the 15th 
 of April, 1801. Sir William Hamilton then 
 resided opposite the Green Park, in Picca- 
 dilly. About ten o'clock, that Evening, I 
 went to his House, with Sir John Mac- 
 pherson. We found assembled there, the 
 Dukes of Gordon and Queensberry, Lord 
 William Gordon, Monsieur de Calonne, Mr. 
 Charles Greville, Sir William's Nephew; 
 the Duke de Noia, a Neapolitan Nobleman ; 
 Mr. Kemble, the celebrated Comedian, and 
 his Wife; the Reverend Mr. Nelson, now 
 Earl of that name, with some other persons. 
 Lady Hamilton, inspired by the recent Suc- 
 cess of Lord Nelson against the Danes, of 
 which Victory he had transmitted her, with 
 his remaining Hand, all the particulars as 
 they occurred, from the 1st, up to the 8th of 
 April, the Day when the dispatches came 
 away; after playing on the Harpsichord, 
 and accompanying it with her voice, under- 
 took to dance the " Tarentella."
 
 MEMOIRS. 237 
 
 Sir William began it with her, and main- 
 tained the Conflict, for such it might well 
 be esteemed, during some Minutes. When 
 unable longer to continue it, the Duke de 
 JVoia succeeded to his place : but he, too, 
 though near forty years younger than Sir 
 William, soon gave in, from Extenuation. 
 . Lady Hamilton then sent for her own Maid 
 servant; who being likewise presently ex- 
 hausted, after a short time, another female 
 Attendant, a Copt, perfectly black, whom 
 Lord Nelson had presented her, on his re- 
 turn from Egypt, relieved her Companion. 
 It would be difficult to convey any adequate 
 idea of this Dance ; but, the Fandango and 
 Seguedilla of the Spaniards, present an image 
 of it. Madame de Stael has likewise at- 
 tempted to describe it, and has made " Co- 
 rinna" perform it at a Ball in Rome, with 
 the Prince of Amalfi, a Neapolitan, for her 
 Partner: but, she has softened down the vo- 
 luptuous Features that render it too power- 
 ful over the Imagination and the Senses. 
 Yet she admits the " Melange de Pudeur 
 et de Volupte," inherent in the Exhibition, 
 which conveyed an Idea of the Bayaderes 
 or Indian dancing Girls. Madame de 
 StaeTs " Corinna" could not be more fami-
 
 238 HISTORICAL 
 
 liar with the Attitudes of the antique Sta- 
 tues, than was Lady Hamilton ; nor more 
 capable of transporting the Spectators to 
 the Vatican Palace, or to the Medicean Gal- 
 lery at Florence, by her accurate and pic- 
 turesque Imitation of the Models there pre- 
 served, with which she seemed at Times 
 to identify herself. Castagnettes, and the 
 Tambour de Basque, constitute essential 
 Accompaniments of the Performance; which, 
 at its Termination, from the physical Exer- 
 tions necessary, left her in a State of Disso- 
 lution, like the Delphic Priestess, overcome 
 by the Inspiration of Apollo ; or perhaps, 
 more like Semele, as Corregio has painted 
 her, after her Interviews with Jove. We 
 must recollect that the two performers are 
 supposed to be a Satyr and a Nymph ; or, 
 rather, a Fawn and a Bacchant. It was 
 certainly not of a nature to be performed, 
 except before a select Company ; as the 
 Screams, Attitudes, Starts, and Embraces, 
 with which it was intermingled, gave it a 
 peculiar Character. 
 
 I have mentioned it, principally in order 
 to shew Sir William Hamilton's activity and 
 gaiety at that advanced period of life.
 
 MEMOIRS. 239 
 
 Though a finished Courtier, he preserved 
 such an independence of Manner, without 
 any mixture of Servility or Adulation, as 
 seemed eminently to qualify him for the di- 
 plomatic Profession. His Conversation of- 
 fered a rich diversity of Anecdote. With 
 these qualifications, it cannot excite wonder 
 that he formed the delight and ornament of 
 the Court of Naples. No foreign Minister, 
 not even the Family Embassadors of France 
 and Spain resident there, enjoyed in so 
 eminent a degree the favor or affection of 
 His Sicilian Majesty. Nor was the attach- 
 ment of that Prince to Sir William, merely 
 limited to hunting, or fishing parties. He 
 gave the English Envoy many solid proofs 
 of sincere regard ; a regard that extended to 
 the British Crown and Nation. One strik- 
 ing instance of this partiality took place in 
 June, 1779, while I was at Naples. The 
 King of Spain, Charles the Third, having 
 written confidentially to his Son Ferdinand, 
 that he should probably be induced soon to 
 take part with Louis the Sixteenth, by en- 
 tering into a War with Great Britain, as he 
 effectively did immediately afterwards ; the 
 King of Naples, though enjoined by his 
 Father to secrecy, communicated the letter
 
 240 HISTORICAL 
 
 itself to Sir William Hamilton. He even 
 accompanied the disclosure, with the assu- 
 rance of his deep regret at the Adoption of 
 such a line of Policy; and his own firm 
 determination never to enter into the hostile 
 Combination against England, though him- 
 self a Prince of the House of Bourbon, and 
 included in " the Family Compact" by name. 
 Sir William transmitted the King's commu- 
 nication, as well as his assurance on the 
 point, without delay to Lord North, then 
 first Minister. I received this Anecdote 
 from himself at Naples. 
 
 It was in Sir William's, and the first Lady 
 Hamilton's Company, that I learned a num- 
 ber of curious, as well as authentic Particu- 
 lars, relative to the King and Queen of 
 Naples. Ferdinand the Fourth was then in 
 the twenty-ninth year of his age ; tall, mus- 
 cular, and active in his frame, capable of 
 immense fatigue, and apparently formed for 
 long life. His features were coarse and 
 harsh, his Nose immoderately long, like that 
 of his Father and Brother, Charles the Third, 
 and Charles the Fourth, Kings of Spain: 
 but, nevertheless, though the component 
 parts of his face might separately be esteem-
 
 MEMOIRS. 241 
 
 ed ugly, the general expression of his Coun- 
 tenance had in it something intelligent, and 
 even agreeable. There was an unpolished 
 simplicity, or rather a rude nature, in his 
 Manner, Attitudes, Deportment, and Conver- 
 sation, which pleased for a double reason ; 
 on account of its own intrinsic claim to be 
 liked, and as being rarely found on a 
 Throne, where we naturally expect Disguise, 
 Artifice, and habits of Concealment. If he 
 conversed little with Strangers, he seemed 
 at least, when he talked, always to say what 
 he thought; and he betrayed no defect of 
 natural Understanding, though he was alto- 
 gether destitute of that Elegance and Art, 
 which frequently veil the want of Informa- 
 tion. He always reminded me of a Rustic, 
 such as Abdolonymus, elevated by fortune 
 or accident, to a Crown : but, it was an 
 amiable, honest, sensible, well intentioned 
 Rustic, not altogether unworthy of such an 
 Elevation. 
 
 The Queen of Naples, who was not quite 
 twenty-seven years old at this time, seemed 
 much better fitted to represent the Majesty 
 of the Throne, and to do the honors of a 
 Court. Though neither possessing Beauty 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 HISTORICAL 
 
 of face, nor loveliness of person, yet was 
 she not absolutely deficient in either Res- 
 pect ; and if her Figure might be esteemed 
 too large, still it wanted neither Grace, Dig- 
 nity, nor even Attractions. She is the only 
 Queen whom I ever saw weep in public, 
 before a crowd of both Sexes, assembled in 
 her own Palace, on a Gala Day. The Fes- 
 tival on which I was presented to her, hap- 
 pened to be the Anniversary of the loss of 
 her eldest Son, who expired exactly a year 
 before, in 1778. He was a very fine Boy, of 
 promising expectations, to whom his Mother 
 was passionately attached. The ignorance 
 of the Neapolitan Physicians, as it was be- 
 lieved, had caused his Death: for, being 
 seized with a violent sickness and pain in 
 his Stomach, from which, an Emetic, prompt- 
 ly administered, might probably have re- 
 lieved him, they had the imprudence to 
 bleed him, and thereby brought on fatal 
 Convulsions. Such was the Queen's dis- 
 tress, at the recollection of the event which 
 had taken place on this painful Anniversary, 
 that she was unable to repress her Emotions. 
 In the Presence Chamber of the Palace at 
 Naples, she stood under a Canopy, her right 
 Hand held out to the Nobility and Courtiers,
 
 MEMOIRS. 243- 
 
 as they approached to kiss it ; holding in 
 her left, a Handkerchief with which she per- 
 petually wiped her Eyes, that were suffused 
 in Tears. It was difficult not to be favour- 
 ably impressed towards a Princess, capable 
 of giving such an involuntary testimony of 
 her maternal Tenderness, in a place and 
 situation, where it was impossible to suspect 
 her of Artifice or Affectation. 
 
 Having drawn this imperfect outline of 
 the King and Queen of Naples, from my 
 own personal Observations, I shall enume- 
 rate some of the particulars respecting them, 
 which I collected in the course of Conversa- 
 tion from Sir William or Lady Hamilton. 
 I mean, his first Wife, who was a most ac- 
 complished and superior Woman. 
 
 " No European Sovereign, without excep- 
 " tion," said Sir William, " has been so ill 
 " educated as the King of Naples. He is 
 " not even master of any language except 
 " Italian, without making a painful effort; 
 " and his ordinary Italian is a Neapolitan 
 " Dialect, such as the lowest of his Subjects, 
 " the Lazaroni, speak in their intercourse 
 " with each other. It is true that he under- 
 R 2
 
 244 HISTORICAL 
 
 " stands French, and converses in it when 
 " indispensable ; but he rarely reads any 
 " French Author, and still more rarely at- 
 " tempts to write in that language. All the 
 " Correspondence that takes place between 
 " him and his Father, the King of Spain, is 
 " carried on in the common Neapolitan 
 " Jargon. They write very frequently and 
 " largely to each other ; but, seldom does 
 " this Intercourse embrace political subjects: 
 " their letters, of which I have seen num- 
 '* bers, being filled with accounts of the 
 " quantity and variety of the Game respec- 
 " tively killed by them, in which the great 
 " Ambition of each Prince is to exceed the 
 " other. Ferdinand, indeed, who scarcely 
 " ever reads, considers as the greatest of 
 " misfortunes, a rainy Day, when the Wea- 
 " ther proves too bad for him to go out to 
 " the Chace. On such occasions, recourse 
 " is had to every expedient by which time 
 " may be killed, in order to dissipate His 
 " Majesty's Ennui, even to the most puerile 
 " and childish Pastimes. The King's Edu- 
 " cation was systematically neglected : for, 
 " Charles the Third, alarmed at the Imbeci- 
 " lity of his eldest Son, Philip, Duke of 
 " Calabria, who on account of his recog-
 
 MEMOIRS. 245 
 
 " nized debility of understanding, was whol- 
 ".ly set aside from the right of Succession ; 
 " strictly ordered, at his departure for Spain 
 " in 1759, that this, his third Son should 
 " not be compelled to apply to any severe 
 "Studies, or be made to exert any close ap- 
 " plication of Mind. 
 
 " I have frequently seen the unfortunate 
 " Duke of Calabria, who has only been 
 " dead a few years, and who was by his 
 " Birth, Heir to the Spanish Monarchy. He 
 " attained to Manhood, and was treated with 
 " certain distinctions, having Chamberlains 
 " placed about him in constant attendance, 
 " who watched him with unremitting Atten- 
 " tion ; as otherwise he would have commit- 
 *' ted a thousand Excesses. Care was parti- 
 " cularly taken to keep him from having 
 " any connexion with the other Sex, for 
 " which he manifested the strongest pro- 
 " pensity ; but it became at last impossible 
 " to prevent him altogether from attempting 
 " to emancipate himself in this respect. He 
 " has many times eluded the vigilance of his 
 " keepers, and on seeing ladies pass through 
 " the Apartments of the Palace, would 
 *' attack them with the same impetuosity,
 
 246 HISTORICAL 
 
 "as Pan or the Satyrs are described by 
 " Ovid, when pursuing the Nymphs ; and 
 " with the same intentions. More than one 
 " Lady of the Court has been critically res- 
 " cued from his Embraces. On particular 
 " Days of the year, he was allowed to hold 
 " a sort of Court or Levee, when the foreign 
 " Ministers repaired to his Apartments, to 
 " pay their Compliments to him ; but his 
 " greatest Amusement consisted in having 
 " his Hand held up by his Attendants, while 
 " Gloves were put upon it, one larger than 
 " another, to the number of fifteen or six- 
 " teen. His Death was justly considered as 
 " a fortunate event, under such circum- 
 " stances of incurable Imbecility. 
 
 " Before the present King fully attained 
 " his seventeenth year, the Marquis Tanuc- 
 " ci, then Prime Minister, by directions 
 " sent from the Court of Madrid, provided 
 " him a Wife. The Archduchess Josepha, 
 " one of the Daughters of the Empress 
 " Maria Theresa, being selected for Queen 
 " of Naples ; and being represented to young 
 " Ferdinand, as a Princess equally amiable 
 " in her mind, as she was agreeable in her 
 " person ; he expected her arrival with
 
 MEMOIRS. 247 
 
 " great pleasure, mingled even with some 
 " impatience. So much more severely was 
 " it natural that he should feel the melan- 
 " choly Intelligence, when it arrived from 
 " Vienna, that she was dead of the small- 
 " pox. In fact, he manifested as much Con- 
 *' cern at the event, as could perhaps be 
 " expected in a Prince of his disposition, 
 " and at his time of life, for the Death of a 
 " person whom he had never seen. But, a 
 " Circumstance which greatly augmented his 
 " Chagrin on the occasion was, its being 
 " considered indispensable for him not to 
 " take his usual Diversion of hunting or fish- 
 " ing, on the Day that the account reached 
 " Naples. Ferdinand reluctantly submitted 
 " to such a painful and unusual renuncia- 
 " tion : but, having consented to it from a 
 " sense of Decorum, he immediately set 
 " about endeavouring to amuse himself with- 
 " in doors, in the best manner that Circum- 
 " stances would admit ; an Attempt in which 
 " he was aided by the Noblemen in waiting 
 " about his person. They began therefore 
 " with Billiards, a Game which His Majesty 
 " likes, and at which he plays with skill. 
 '* When they had continued it for some time, 
 " leap-frog was tried, to which succeeded
 
 248 HISTORICAL 
 
 " various other feats of agility or Gambols. 
 " At length, one of the Gentlemen, more 
 " ingenious than the others, proposed to 
 " celebrate the Funeral of the deceased 
 " Arch-Duchess. The Idea, far from shock- 
 " ing the King, appeared to him, and to the 
 " whole Company, as most entertaining; 
 " and no reflections, either on the Indeco- 
 " rum, or want of apparent Humanity, in the 
 " proceeding, interposed to prevent its hn- 
 " mediate realization. Having selected one 
 " of the Chamberlains, as proper, from his 
 " youth and feminine Appearance, to repre- 
 " sent the Princess, they habited him in a 
 " manner suitable to the mournful Occasion; 
 " laid him out on an open Bier, according 
 " to the Neapolitan Custom at interments ; 
 " and in order to render the Ceremony more 
 " appropriate, as well as more accurately 
 " correct, they marked his Face and Hands 
 " with Chocolate drops, which were design- 
 " ed to imitate the Pustules of the small- 
 " pox. All the Apparatus being ready, the 
 " funeral Procession began, and proceeded 
 " through the principal Apartments of the 
 " Palace at Portici, Ferdinand officiating as 
 " Chief Mourner. Having heard of the 
 " Arch-Duchess's Decease, I had gone thi-
 
 MEMOIRS. 249 
 
 " (her on that Day, in order to make my Con- 
 " dolence privately to His Majesty on the 
 " Misfortune; and entering at the time, I be- 
 " came an eye-witness of this extraordinary 
 " Scene, which, in any other Country of Eu- 
 " rope, would be considered as incredible, 
 " and would not obtain Belief. 
 
 " The Arch-Duchess Caroline being sub- 
 " stituted in place of her Sister, and being 
 " soon afterwards conducted from Vienna to 
 " Naples, the King advanced in person, as 
 " far as the ' Portella,' where the Neapolitan 
 " and Papal Territories divide, in order to re- 
 " ceive his new Bride. She was then not 
 " sixteen years old, and though she could 
 " not by any means be esteemed handsome, 
 " yet she possessed many Charms. Ferdi- 
 " nand manifested on his part, neither ardor 
 " nor indifference for the Queen. On the 
 " Morning after his Nuptials, which took 
 " place in the beginning of May, 1768, when 
 " the Weather was very warm, he rose at an 
 " early Hour, and went out as usual to the 
 " Chace, leaving his young Wife in Bed. 
 " Those Courtiers who accompanied him, 
 " having inquired of His Majesty how he
 
 250 HISTORICAL 
 
 " liked her ; ' Dorme com un amazzata,' re- 
 " plied he, * et suda com un Porco.' Such 
 " an Answer would be esteemed, any where 
 " except at Naples, most indecorous ; but 
 " here we are familiarized to far greater vio- 
 " lations of propriety and decency. Those 
 " acts and functions which are never men- 
 " tioned in England, and which are there 
 " studiously concealed, even by the vulgar, 
 " here are openly performed. When the 
 " King has made a hearty meal, and feels an 
 " inclination to retire, he commonly commu- 
 " nicates that intention to the Noblemen 
 " around him in waiting, and selects the 
 " favored Individuals, whom, as a mark of 
 " predilection, he chuses shall attend him. 
 " * Sono ben pransato? says he, laying his 
 " hand on his Belly, ' Adesso bisogna un 
 " buona panchiata' The persons thus pre- 
 " ferred, then accompany His Majesty, stand 
 " respectfully round him, and amuse him 
 " by their Conversation, during the perform- 
 " ance." 
 
 However strong this fact may appear, and 
 however repugnant to our ideas of Decency; 
 it has been for successive Centuries, perfectly
 
 MEMOIRS. 251 
 
 consonant to the Manners of the Italians in 
 general, and scarcely less so to those of the 
 French. D'Aubigne, a grave Writer, in the 
 " Memoirs of his own Life," does not hesi- 
 tate to relate in the most circumstantial man- 
 ner, the narrow escape which Henry the 
 Fourth, his Master, had of being knocked on 
 the Head, while engaged in this necessary 
 function. Nay, D'Aubigne composed a 
 " Quatrain" on the Adventure, which he has 
 transmitted to Posterity. The Story is so na- 
 turally related, and is so characteristic of the 
 Nation, that I -can't resist giving it in the 
 words of the Author. Henry, who was then 
 only King of Navarre, having effected his 
 escape from Paris, in 1575, on which occa- 
 sion D'Aubigne accompanied him ; they 
 passed the river Seine at Poissy, and soon 
 afterwards stopped to refresh themselves in 
 a Village. Here, says D'Aubigne, the King 
 " etant alle faire ses affaires dans un tet ct 
 
 */ ULf 
 
 " cockons, une Vieille, qui le surprit en cet etat, 
 " lui auroitf endue la T6te par derriere, d'un 
 " coup de Serpe, sans moi qui parai le Coup" 
 It is clear from this circumstance, that D'Au- 
 bigne must have been close to his royal Mas- 
 ter at the time. Then follows the ludicrous 
 Epitaph which he made for the occasion, on
 
 252 HISTORICAL 
 
 a supposition that the old Woman had killed 
 the King. 
 
 " Cy git un Roi, grand par raerveille, 
 Qui mourut comme Dieu permet, 
 D'un coup de serpe d'une Vieille, 
 Ainsi qu'il chioit dans un let." 
 
 His Predecessor, Henry the Third, it is 
 well known, was stabbed in the Belly, of 
 which Wound he died, in 1589, while sitting 
 on the Chaise perc&e; in which indecorous 
 situation he did not scruple to give audience 
 to Clement, the regicide Monk, who assassi- 
 nated him. Marshal Suwarrow, in our own 
 time, received his Aids du Camp, and his 
 General Officers, precisely in a similar man- 
 ner. Madame de Maintenon, as the Duke 
 de St. Simon informs us, thought those 
 moments so precious, that she commonly 
 accompanied Louis the Fourteenth to the 
 " Garderobe." So did Louvois, when Mi- 
 nister of State. The Duke de Vendome, 
 while commanding the Armies of France in 
 Spain and Italy, at the commencement of 
 the last Century, was accustomed to receive 
 the greatest personages, on public Business, 
 in the same situation. We have Cardinal 
 Alberoni's authority for this fact. If we
 
 MEMOIRS. 253 
 
 f 
 
 read the account written by Du Bois, of the 
 last illness of Louis the Thirteenth, we may 
 there see what humiliating functions Anne 
 of Austria performed for that Prince, in the 
 course of his malady; over which, an English 
 Writer, more fastidious, would have drawn a 
 veil. Mademoiselle de Montpensier, and the 
 Palatine Duchess of Orleans, though Women 
 of the highest Birth and Rank, as well as of 
 unimpeached Conduct, conceal nothing on 
 these points, in their writings. The former, 
 speaking of the Duchess of Orleans, her 
 Step-mother, second Wife of Gaston, Brother 
 of Louis the Thirteenth, says, " She had 
 " contracted a singular habit of always run- 
 " ning into another room, pour se placer sur 
 *' la Chaise perce, when Dinner was an- 
 " nounced. As she never failed in this par- 
 " ticular, the Grand Maitre, or Lord Steward 
 " of Gaston's Household, who performed 
 " the Ceremony of summoning their Royal 
 " Highnesses to Table; observed, smelling 
 " to his Baton of Office, that there must cer- 
 " tainly be either Senna or Rhubarb in its 
 " composition, as it invariably produced the 
 " effect of sending the Duchess to the Garde- 
 " robe." I have, myself, seen the late Elec- 
 tress Dowager of Saxony, Daughter of the
 
 254 HISTORICAL 
 
 Emperor Charles the Seventh, at her own 
 Palace, in the Suburbs of Dresden, rise from 
 the Table where she was playing, when the 
 room has been full of company of both Sexes; 
 lay down her Cards, retire for a few minutes, 
 during which time the Game was suspended, 
 and then return, observing to those near her, 
 " J'ai pris Medecine aujourd'huy" These 
 Circumstances sufficiently prove that Fer- 
 dinand, however gross his manners or lan- 
 guage seem to us, by no means shocked the 
 feelings, or excited the disgust of his own 
 Courtiers. 
 
 " In all the exercises or exertions of the 
 " Body, that demand vigor and address," 
 continued Sir William, " the King of Naples 
 " excels. He might have contended for the 
 " prize at the public Games of ancient 
 " Greece, at Elis, or at Olympia, with no 
 " ordinary prospect of success. He likes in 
 " particular, wrestling; and having heard 
 " that a young Irish Gentleman of the name 
 " of Bourke, who visited Naples not long 
 " since, was an expert Wrestler, he caused it 
 " to be signified, that he should like to try a 
 " fall with that foreigner : but, Bourke had 
 " the good sense to decline a contest for the
 
 MEMOIRS. 255 
 
 '* Honors of the Palaestra, with a crowned 
 " Head. He dances violently at the Court 
 " Balls ; on one of which occasions, some 
 " years ago, I witnessed a Scene truly origi- 
 " nal, as well as comic. When his Brother- 
 " in-law, the Emperor Joseph, being on his 
 " Progress thro' Italy, arrived here, a superb 
 " Ball was given in honor of his visit; at 
 " which Entertainment, however, he declined 
 " mixing personally in the Dance. While 
 " his Imperial Majesty was standing near 
 " the Dancers, engaged in conversation with 
 " me ; Ferdinand having gone down the set, 
 " and being in a most profuse state of per- 
 " spiration, pulled open his Waistcoat : then 
 " taking Joseph's Hand, he applied it sud- 
 " denly to his own Shirt behind, exclaiming 
 " at the same time, ' Sentiti qui, Fratello 
 " mio* The Emperor instantly withdrew 
 " his Hand, not without manifesting great 
 " discomposure ; and the two Sovereigns re- 
 " mained for a few Seconds, looking in each 
 " other's faces. Surprise was equally paint- 
 " ed in the features of both ; for, as the one 
 " had never before been invited to try such 
 " an Experiment, so the other had never 
 " found any individual who did not esteem 
 " himself honored by the familiarity. I had
 
 256 HISTORICAL 
 
 " no Jittle difficulty to restrain the Muscles 
 " of my Countenance on the occasion. 
 
 " Joseph, who held his Brother-in-law's 
 " Understanding in great contempt, endea- 
 " voured to assume over him the sort of Su- 
 " periority, arrogated by a strong, over a 
 " weak Mind. But, Ferdinand, though con- 
 " fessedly his inferior in cultivation and re- 
 " finement, was by no means disposed to 
 " adopt his political opinions or ideas. He 
 " even manifested, in various Conversations, 
 " and on many Occasions, that, defective as 
 " his Education had been, he possessed as 
 " much plain Sense, and even acute Discern- 
 " ment, as the Emperor, or his Brother 
 " Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Jo- 
 " seph did not indeed inspire any very high 
 " Admiration, by his deportment, or general 
 " conduct, while he remained at Naples. 
 " He was irritable, and even irascible, where 
 " he should have shewn good humor, or 
 " command of temper. I accompanied him 
 " to the summit of Vesuvius, and with con- 
 " cern saw him break his Cane over the 
 " Shoulders of the Guide, Bartolomeo, for 
 " some slight offence which he had given 
 " his Imperial Majesty.
 
 MEMOIRS. 257 
 
 " Ferdinand's passions are all swallowed 
 " up in his rage for the pleasures of the 
 " field ; hunting, shooting, and fishing : for, 
 " this last Diversion, peculiarly adapted to 
 " the Climate of Naples, must be included 
 " in the number. He thinks no fatigue > and 
 " no privations, too great to undergo for its 
 " indulgence. The quantity of Game, by 
 " which I principally mean Deer, wild Boar 
 " of all ages, and Stags of every kind, pre- 
 " served in the Royal Woods or Parks, at 
 " Astruni, at Caserta, Caccia Bella, and 
 " other places, exceeds belief. And the 
 " Slaughter made of them in some of the 
 " hunting parties, is equally beyond credi- 
 " bility. I have frequently seen a heap, 
 " composed only of the Offal or Bowels, 
 " reaching as high as my head, and many 
 " feet in circumference. The King rarely 
 " misses a shot ; but, when he is tired \vith 
 " killing, then commences another Qpera- 
 " tion. He next dissects the principal 
 " pieces of Game, which he presents to fa- 
 " vored Courtiers, or distributes among his 
 " Attendants. In order to perform this part 
 " of the Diversion, having first stripped, he 
 " puts on a flannel Dress, takes the knife in 
 " hand, and, with inconceivable dexterity. 
 VOL. I. s
 
 *258 HISTORICAL 
 
 " cuts up the Animal. No Carcass-Batcher 
 " in Smithfield can exceed him in anatomi- 
 " cal ability ; but he is frequently besmear- 
 " ed with Blood from head to foot, before 
 " he has finished, and exhibits an extraor- 
 " dinary Spectacle, not easily to be ima- 
 " gined, by those who have never witnessed 
 " it. The Queen herself is sometimes ob- 
 " liged to be present at the Scene, though 
 " more, as may be supposed, in compliance 
 " with the King's wish, than from her own 
 " inclination. He is equally indefatigable 
 " on the water, in harpooning or in catch- 
 " ing fish ; particularly the Pesce Spada, or 
 " Sword-fish ; and he neither regards heat, 
 " nor cold, nor hunger, nor danger. On 
 " these occasions, he is usually or always 
 " attended by a number of chosen Liparots, 
 " natives of the Lipari islands, who have 
 " been in all Ages most expert Sailors, Di- 
 " vers, and Fishermen. 
 
 " It is thus that Ferdinand passes the 
 " greatest portion of his time ; while the 
 " Potentates of Germany, England, France, 
 " and Spain, are engaged in war. Not that 
 " he is indifferent to the felicity of his Sub- 
 " jects, or regardless of the security and
 
 MEMOIRS. 259 
 
 " prosperity of his Dominions. On the con- 
 " trary, his Heart, which is animated with 
 " the best emotions towards his People, im- 
 " pels him to manifest it by all his Mea- 
 " sures : but, his defects of Education, ren- 
 " der him shy, embarrassed, and awkward ; 
 " nor have his Ministers any wish to 
 " awaken, or to invigorate, the faculties of 
 " his Mind. Neither Tanucci, who govern- 
 " ed Naples during his Minority, nor Sam- 
 " buca, the present First Minister, desire to 
 " see him assume an active part in the Ad- 
 " ministration of public Affairs. The Che- 
 " valier Acton, who is at the head of the 
 " Marine, has however begun to put the 
 " Neapolitan Navy in a more respectable 
 " condition, than it has been for several 
 " Centuries. Already it affords some pro- 
 " tection to the Coasts of Calabria and of 
 " Sicily; which have been perpetually in- 
 " fested by the Algerines, Tunisians, and 
 " other Pirates ; who were accustomed to 
 " land, and to carry off whole Villages into 
 " slavery, precisely as Dragut and Barba- 
 " rossa did, two hundred years ago. Such 
 " Calamities are even now by no means un- 
 ** usual. It is a fact, that I narrowly 
 " escaped, myself, some time since, in one 
 s 2
 
 260 HISTORICAL 
 
 " of my maritime Excursions round the 
 " Southern Provinces of the Kingdom, be- 
 " ing surprized in a Sparonara, while lying 
 " close under Cape Spartivento. Lady 
 " Hamilton was of the party, and those 
 " Barbarians would not have respected my 
 " official Character ; nor still less would 
 " they have regarded the reclamations of 
 " this Government. 
 
 " The power of the Neapolitan Kings is 
 " moreover fettered by many impediments, 
 " which even a Prince of the greatest Ta- 
 
 ' lents, or of the most vigorous Charac- 
 ;< ter, would find difficult to surmount. In 
 " Apulia, as well as in Calabria and Sicily, 
 11 the great feudal Barons still retain Privi- 
 
 ' ledges, that render them almost independ- 
 " ant of the Crown ; and which they con- 
 " sider as imprescriptible, having constituted 
 " their Birth-right for Ages, under the va- 
 " rious Dynasties that have reigned over 
 " this beautiful Country. The Church en- 
 " joys revenues and immunities, not less in- 
 " compatible in many respects* with civil 
 Order and Obedience. But, Ferdinand is 
 " greatly beloved by his People, who know, 
 " and who do justice, to his good inten-
 
 MEMOIRS. 261 
 
 " tions. He is even far more popular than 
 " the Queen. That Princess, who pos- 
 " sesses an active mind, and very considera- 
 " ble parts, as well as Ambition and love of 
 "Power, has assumed a share in the Admi- 
 " nistration, for which she is by no means 
 " unqualified : yet is she less esteemed than 
 41 her Husband ; who, if he is not ardently 
 "attached to her as a Wife, treats her at 
 ^ least with great consideration, kindness, 
 " and confidence. They live together in 
 " conjugal union, though Her Majesty is 
 " not exempt from the frailties and weak- 
 " nesses of her Sex. Indeed, the Air, Man- 
 ** ners, and Society of this Capital, are all 
 " very inimical to female Virtue. From the 
 " time of the first Jane, Queen of Naples, 
 " so famous in the Annals of Gallantry, 
 " down to the present Day, these Countries 
 " have exhibited Scenes of dissolute plea- 
 " sure, or rather, of unrestrained licentious- 
 " ness. They will probably ever so remain. 
 " Yet," concluded Sir William, " if I were 
 " compelled to be a King, I would choose 
 " Naples for my Kingdom. Here, a Crown 
 " has fewer Thorns, than in any other Coun- 
 " try. His very want of political Power, en- 
 " sures his repose ; and the Storms which
 
 262 HISTORICAL 
 
 " desolate Europe, pass over his Head with- 
 " out Injury. Placed at the Extremity of 
 " Italy, he is removed out of the way of 
 " contest and hostility. A delicious Cli- 
 " mate, Shores, to which the Romans retired 
 " when masters of the World, in order to 
 " enjoy a luxury unattainable elsewhere, 
 " and which are still covered with the re- 
 " mains of Roman Splendor, or Grecian 
 " Magnificence ; all the productions of the 
 " Levant, which are to be found here, 
 " blended with those of the Mediterranean ; 
 " a splendid Capital, Palaces, Woods, Game, 
 " every thing seems assembled in this en- 
 " chanting Bay, that can conduce to human 
 " Enjoyment. Such is the favored position, 
 " and the enviable lot of Ferdinand the 
 " Fourth." Such, indeed, as here described, 
 it might be considered without Exaggeration, 
 in 1779; though during the awful Convul- 
 sions which have shaken Europe since that 
 period, produced by the French Revolution, 
 his Throne was subverted, and himself com- 
 pelled to take Refuge at Palermo, during 
 many years. 
 
 The impunity with which the great Nobi- 
 lity perpetrated the most atrocious Crimes,
 
 MEMOFRS. 263 
 
 and the facility that they found in evading 
 Inquiry, or in eluding Justice, then consti- 
 tuted one of the worst features of the Nea- 
 politan Administration. Lady Hamilton, 
 who had been several years resident at Na- 
 ples, where she died not long afterwards, re- 
 lated to me various instances illustrative of 
 this fact. " Some time ago," said she, " a 
 ** Sicilian Lady of high rank, was by order 
 " of the Court, brought prisoner here, from 
 " that Island. She had committed so many 
 " Assassinations or Murders, that her own 
 " relations having denounced her, called on 
 " the Government to arrest the further 
 " course of her Crimes. It was believed that 
 " she had dispatched ten or eleven persons, 
 ** by the Dagger, or by Poison ; particularly 
 " by that species of Poison, denominated, 
 " ' Aqua tophana' I had the curiosity to 
 " visit her, during her confinement. She re- 
 " ceived me sitting in her Bed, conversed 
 *' with great cheerfulness, offered me Cho- 
 " colate, as well as other refreshments, and 
 " seemed to labour under no Agitation of 
 " Mind. In her person she was delicate, 
 " feminine, and agreeable, her manners po- 
 " lite and gentle. Her age did not exceed 
 " three or four and twenty. From her de-
 
 2G4 HISTORICAL 
 
 " portmeut, one could not have suspected 
 " her to be capable of such Atrocities. 
 " Though her guilt was unquestionable, she 
 " was not put to Death. Confinement for 
 '* life, in a Convent of a severe Order, toge- 
 " ther with certain acts of religious mortifi- 
 t( cation or penance, which they are com* 
 *' pelled to undergo ; these constitute the 
 " punishments usually inflicted here,- on 
 " Culprits of high Birth." 
 
 The vicinity of the Northern Provinces of 
 the kingdom of Naples, to the Papal Ter- 
 ritories ; and the ease with which Malefac- 
 tors of both Countries, respectively gained 
 an Asylum, by passing the Frontiers ; open- 
 ed another door to the commission of the 
 most flagitious Acts. Conversing at Por- 
 tici, on this subject, with Lady Hamil- 
 ton, she related to me the following Story, 
 which I shall endeavour to give in her own 
 words. " About the year 1743, a person of 
 " the name of Ogilvie, an Irishman by birth, 
 " who practised Surgery with great reputa-> 
 " tion at Rome, and who resided not far 
 " from the ' Piazza di Spagna,' in that City ; 
 " being in Bed, was called up to attend 
 *' some Strangers who demanded his profes-
 
 MEMOIRS. 265 
 
 ** sional Assistance. They stopped before 
 " his House, in a Coach ; and on his going 
 " to the door, he found two Men masked, by 
 " whom he was desired to accompany them 
 " immediately, as the case which brought 
 " them, admitted of no delay, and not to 
 " omit taking with him his lancets. He 
 " complied, and got into the Coach; but, 
 " no- sooner had they quitted the Street in 
 " which he resided, than they informed him 
 " that he must submit to have his Eyes 
 " bandaged ; the person to whom they were 
 " about to conduct him, being a lady of 
 " rank, whose name and place of abode, it 
 " was indispensable to conceal. To this re- 
 " quisition he likewise submitted ; and after 
 " driving through a number of Streets, ap- 
 " parently with a view to prevent his form- 
 " ing any accurate idea of the part of the 
 " City to which he was conducted, the Car- 
 " riage at length stopped. The two Gentle- 
 " men his companions, then alighting, and 
 " each taking him by the arm, conducted 
 " him into a House. Ascending a narrow 
 "Staircase, they entered an Apartment, 
 " where he was released from the Bandage 
 " tied over his Eyes. One of them next ac- 
 " quainted him, that it being necessary to
 
 266 HISTORICAL 
 
 " deprive of life a lady who had dishonored 
 " her family, they had chosen him to per- 
 " form the Office, knowing his professional 
 " skill ; that he would find her in the ad- 
 joining Chamber, prepared to submit to 
 " her fate ; and that he must open her Veins 
 " with as much expedition as possible ; a 
 " service, for the execution of which, he 
 " should receive a liberal recompence. 
 
 " Ogilvie at first peremptorily refused to 
 " commit an act, so highly repugnant to his 
 " feelings. But, the two Strangers assured 
 " him, with solemn denunciations of venge- 
 " ance, that his refusal could only prove 
 " fatal to himself, without affording the 
 " slightest assistance to the object of his 
 " Compassion ; that her Doom was irrevoca- 
 " ble, and that unless he chose to partici- 
 " pate a similar fate, he must submit to exe- 
 " cute the Office imposed on him. Thus si- 
 " tuated, and finding all entreaty or remon- 
 " strance vain, he entered the room, where 
 " he found a Lady of a most interesting 
 " figure and appearance, apparently in the 
 " bloom of youth. She was habited in a 
 " loose undress ; and immediately after- 
 " wards, a female Attendant placed before
 
 MEMOIRS. 207 
 
 " her a large tub filled with warm water, in 
 " which she immersed her legs. Far from 
 " opposing any impediment to the act which 
 " she knew he was sent to perform, the 
 " Lady assured him of her perfect resigna- 
 " tion ; entreating him to put the sentence 
 " passed on her into execution, with as little 
 " delay as possible. She added, that she 
 " was well aware, no pardon could be 
 " hoped for from those who had devoted her 
 " lo death, which alone could expiate her 
 " trespass : felicitating herself that his huma- 
 " nity would abbreviate her Sufferings, and 
 " soon terminate their Duration. 
 
 " After a short Conflict with his own 
 " mind, perceiving no means of extrication 
 " or of escape, either for the Lady, or for 
 " himself; being moreover urged to expe- 
 " dite his work, by the two persons with- 
 " out, who, impatient at his reluctance, 
 ." threatened to exercise violence on him, if 
 " he procrastinated; Ogilvie took out his 
 " lancet, opened her Veins, and bled her to 
 " death in a short time. The Gentlemen 
 " having carefully examined the Body, in 
 " order to ascertain that she was no more ; 
 " after expressing their satisfaction, offered
 
 268 HISTORICAL 
 
 " him a purse of Zechins, as a remune- 
 " ration; but he declined all recompence, 
 " only requesting to be conveyed from a 
 " Scene, on which he could not reflect 
 " without horror. With this entreaty they 
 "" complied, and having again applied a Ban- 
 " dage to his Eyes, they led him down the 
 " same Staircase, to the Carriage. But, it 
 " being narrow, in descending the steps, he 
 " contrived to leave on one, or both of the 
 " walls, unperceived by his Conductors, the 
 " marks of his fingers, which were stained 
 " with Blood. After observing precautions 
 " similar to those used in bringing him thi- 
 " ther from his own House, he was con- 
 " ducted home; and at parting, the two 
 " Masques charged him, if he valued his 
 " life, never to divulge, and if possible, ne- 
 " ver to think on the past Transaction. They 
 " added, that if he should embrace any mea- 
 " sures, with a view to render it public, or 
 " to set on foot an inquiry into it, he should 
 " be infallibly immolated to their revenge. 
 " Having finally dismissed him at his own 
 " Door, they drove off, leaving him to his re- 
 " flections. 
 
 " On the subsequent Morning, after great
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 "irresolution, he determined, at whatever 
 " risk to his personal safety, not to partici- 
 " pate, by concealing so enormous a Crime. 
 " It formed, nevertheless, a delicate and 
 " difficult undertaking to substantiate the' 
 " Charge, as he remained altogether ignorant 
 " of the place to which he had been carried, 
 " or of the name and quality of the Lady 
 " whom he had deprived of life. Without 
 " suffering himself however to be deterred 
 " by these Considerations, he waited on the 
 " Secretary of the Apostolic Chamber, and 
 " acquainted him with every particular ; 
 " adding, that if the Government would 
 " extend to him protection, he did not des- 
 " pair of finding the House, and of bringing 
 " to light the perpetrators of the deed. Be- 
 " nedict the Fourteenth, (Lambertini), who 
 " then occupied the Papal Chair, had no 
 " sooner received the information, than he 
 " immediately commenced the most active 
 " measures for discovering the Offenders. 
 " A Guard of the Sbirri, or Officers of Jus- 
 " tice, was appointed by his order, to ac- 
 " company Ogilvie; who judging from vari- 
 " ous Circumstances, that he had been con- 
 " veyed out of the City of Rome, began by 
 " visiting the Villas scattered without the
 
 270 HISTORICAL 
 
 " walls of that Metropolis. His search 
 " proved ultimately successful. In the Villa 
 " Papa Julio, constructed by Pope Julius 
 " the Third, (del Monti) he there found the 
 " bloody Marks left on the wall by his fin- 
 " gers, at the same time that he recognized 
 " the Apartment in which he had put to 
 " death the Lady. The Palace belonged to 
 " the Duke de Bracciano, the Chief of which 
 " illustrious family, and his Brother, had 
 " committed the Murder, in the person of 
 " their own Sister. They no sooner found 
 " that it was discovered, than they fled to 
 " this City, where they easily eluded the 
 " pursuit of justice. After remaining here 
 " for some time, they obtained a pardon, by 
 " the exertions of their powerful friends, on 
 " payment of a considerable fine to the 
 " Apostolic Chamber, and under the further 
 " condition of affixing over the Chimney- 
 " piece of the Room where the Crime had 
 " been perpetrated, a plate of Copper, com- 
 " memorating the Transaction, and their pe- 
 " nitence. This Plate, together with the 
 " Inscription, still continued to exist there 
 " till within these few years." 
 
 However extraordinary many Circumstan-
 
 MEMOIRS. 271 
 
 ces of this Story may appear, similar events 
 or accounts have been circulated and be- 
 lieved in other Countries of Europe. I have 
 often been assured, both at Vienna, and in 
 various places of the German Empire, that 
 an Occurrence not less romantic, and more 
 enigmatical in its nature, took place in 1774, 
 or 1 775 ; for, some uncertainty prevailed as 
 to the precise time when the fact was pr& 
 tended to have happened. It is well known 
 that the " Bourreau," or public Executioner 
 of the City of Strasburgh, although that place 
 has formed a part of the French Monarchy 
 ever since the reign of Louis the Fourteenth ; 
 yet was frequently employed during a great 
 part of the last Century, to execute the 
 functions of his Office, on the other side 
 of the Rhine, in Swabia, on the Territories 
 of Baden, and in the Brisgaw; all which 
 Countries constitute a portion of Germany. 
 Some persons who arrived at Strasburgh 
 about the period to which I have alluded; 
 having repaired, as it is said, to the House 
 of the Executioner, during the Night, de- 
 manded that he should instantly accompany 
 them out of the town, in order to execute a 
 Criminal of Condition ; for which service he 
 should, of course, receive a liberal remune-
 
 272 HISTORICAL 
 
 ration. They particularly enjoined him to- 
 bring the heavy two-edged Sword with which 
 he was accustomed, in the discharge of his 
 ordinary functions, to behead Malefactors. 
 Being placed in a Carriage with his Conduc- 
 tors, he passed the Bridge over the river, to 
 Kehl, the first Town on the Eastern Bank of 
 the Rhine ; where they acquainted him that 
 he had a considerable Journey to perform ; 
 the object of which must be carefully con- 
 cealed, as the person intended to be put to 
 death, was an individual of great Distinction, 
 They added, that he must not oppose their 
 taking the proper precautions to prevent his 
 knowing the place to which he was con- 
 veyed. He acquiesced, and allowed them 
 to hoodwink him. On the second Day 
 they arrived at a moated Castle, the draw- 
 bridge of which being lowered for the Pur- 
 pose, they drove into the Court. After 
 waiting a considerable time, he was then 
 conducted into a spacious Hall, where stood 
 a Scaffold hung with black Cloth, and in 
 the Centre was placed a Stool or Chair. A 
 Female shortly made her appearance, habited 
 in deep mourning, her face wholly concealed 
 by a Veil. She was led by two persons, 
 who, when she was seated, having first tied
 
 MEMOIRS. 273 
 
 her hands, next fastened her legs with Cords. 
 As far as he could form any judgment 
 from her general figure, he considered her to 
 have passed the period of youth. Not a 
 word was uttered; neither did she make 
 any complaints, nor attempt any resistance. 
 When all the preparations for her Execution 
 were completed, on a signal given, he un- 
 sheathed the instrument of punishment, ac- 
 cording to the practice adopted in the Ger- 
 man Empire, where the Axe is rarely, or 
 never, used for Decapitation ; and her Head 
 being forcibly held up by the Hair, he severed 
 it, at a single stroke, from her Body. With- 
 out allowing him to remain more than a few 
 Minutes, he was then handsomely rewarded, 
 conducted back to Kehl, by the same per- 
 sons who had brought him to the place, and 
 set down at the end of the Bridge leading to 
 Strasburgh. 
 
 I have heard the question frequently agi- 
 tated, during my residence in Germany, and 
 many different Opinions stated, relative to 
 the Name and Quality of ,the Lady thus as- 
 serted to have been put to Death. The most 
 generally adopted Belief rested on the Prin- 
 cess of Tour and Taxis, Augusta Elizabeth, 
 
 VOL. i. T
 
 274 HISTORICAL 
 
 daughter of Charles Alexander, Prince of 
 Wirtemberg. She had been married, at a 
 very early period of life, to Charles Anselm, 
 Prince of Tour and Taxis. Whether it pro- 
 ceeded from mutual incompatibility of Cha- 
 racter, or, as was commonly pretended, from 
 the Princess's intractable and ferocious Dis- 
 position, the Marriage proved eminently un- 
 fortunate in its results. She was accused of 
 having repeatedly attempted to take away 
 her Husband's life, particularly while they 
 were walking together near the Castle of 
 Donau-Stauff, on the high Bank overhanging 
 the Danube, when, it was said, she endea- 
 voured to precipitate him into the River. It 
 is certain, that about the year 1773, or 1774, 
 a final Separation took place between them, 
 at the Prince's solicitation. The reigning 
 Duke of Wirtemberg, her Brother, to whose 
 Custody she was consigned, caused her to 
 be closely immured in a Castle within his 
 own Dominions, where she was strictly 
 guarded, no Access being allowed to her. Of 
 the last mentioned fact, there is little doubt ; 
 but, it may be considered as much more pro- 
 blematical, whether she was the person put 
 to Death by the Executioner of Strasburgh. 
 1 have dined, in the Autumn of the year 

 
 MEMOIRS. 275 
 
 1778, with the Prince of Tour and Taxis, 
 at his Castle or Seat of Donau-Stauff, near 
 the northern Bank of the Danube, a few 
 Miles from the City of Ratisbon. He was then 
 about forty-five years of age, and his Wife 
 was understood to be in Confinement. 1 be- 
 lieve that her Decease was not formally 
 announced as having taken place, till many 
 years subsequent to 1778: but, this Circum- 
 stance by no means militates against the 
 possibility of her having suffered by a more 
 summary Process, if her conduct had exposed 
 her to merit it ; and if it was thought proper 
 to inflict upon her capital punishment. The 
 private Annals of the great Houses and 
 Sovereigns of the German Empire, if they 
 were divulged, would furnish numerous 
 instances of similar Severity exercised in 
 their own Families, during the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth Centuries. Some of these 
 Stories might realize the tragical Adventures 
 commemorated by Boccace, or related by 
 Margaret, Queen of Navarre, sister of Fran- 
 cis the First, in her "Tales;" which last 
 mentioned Productions, however romantic 
 some of them may appear, are not Fictions, 
 but, faithful delineations of the Gallantries 
 or Crimes that took place in the Court of 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HISTORICAL 
 
 Pau, where she resided, near the foot of the 
 Pyrenees. Count Konigsmarck fell a victim, 
 at Hanover, to the resentment of Ernest 
 Augustus, father of King George the First: 
 and we know how narrowly the great Fre- 
 deric, afterwards King of Prussia, escaped 
 perishing by the same Weapon which be- 
 headed his Companion Katt, arbitrarily sacri- 
 ficed by Frederic William the First, for only 
 endeavouring to facilitate the Prince's evasion 
 from his father's Court. 
 
 While 1 am engaged on the subject of ex- 
 traordinary Events, I shall record one more 
 Fact, which may appear equally curious with 
 either of the Stones that I have just re- 
 counted. During the first Winter that 1 
 passed at Vienna, in 1778, I became ac- 
 quainted with the Count and Countess Po- 
 dotski. She was one of the most beauti- 
 ful and accomplished Women of high rank, 
 whom I have seen on the Continent. Her 
 husband, a great Polish Nobleman, here- 
 ditary Cup-bearer, or " Grand Echanson" 
 of the Crown, had become in some measure 
 an Austrian Subject, in consequence of the 
 first Partition of Poland, which took place 
 in 1772. His patrimonial Estates lying
 
 MEMOIRS. 277 
 
 principally m that Southern Portion of the 
 Kingdom which fell to the share of Maria 
 Theresa, he of course repaired frequently to 
 Vienna ; between which Capital and Warsaw 
 he divided his time. During the Winter of 
 1776, as the Count and Countess Podotski 
 were on their way from Vienna to Cracow, 
 the Wolves which abound in the Carpathian 
 Mountains, rendered more than ordinarily 
 bold and ferocious, in consequence of the 
 severity of the Season ; descending in great 
 Numbers, began to follow the Carriage be- 
 tween the two little Towns of Oswiezk and 
 Zator ; the latter of which places is only a 
 few Leagues distant from Cracow. Of two 
 Servants who attended him, one had been 
 sent forward to Zator, for the purpose of 
 procuring post Horses. The other, a Hey- 
 duc, to whom he was much attached on ac- 
 count of his fidelity, finding the Wolves 
 rapidly gaming ground on them, rode up, 
 and exhorted the Count to permit him to 
 abandon to these animals his Horse; as such 
 a prey would naturally arrest their im- 
 petuosity, and allow time for the Count and 
 Countess to reach Zator. Podotski im- 
 mediately agreed to the proposal ; and the 
 Heyduc, mounting behind the Carriage, left
 
 278 HISTORICAL 
 
 his Horse, who was soon overtaken, and torn 
 in a thousand pieces. 
 
 They continued their journey meanwhile 
 with all possible speed, in the hope of getting 
 to the Town, from which they were at an 
 inconsiderable distance. But, their Horses 
 were fatigued ; and the Wolves, become more 
 ravenous, as well as eager, by having tasted 
 Blood, already were nearly up with them. 
 In this extremity, the Hey due said to his 
 Master, " There is only one way left to save 
 " us. We shall all be devoured in a few 
 " Minutes. I am ready to sacrifice myself, 
 " by going to meet the Wolves, if you will 
 " swear to be a Father to my Wife and Chil- 
 " dren. I shall be destroyed; but, while 
 " they are occupied in falling upon me, you 
 " may escape." Podotski, after a Moment's 
 reluctance to accept such an Offer, pressed 
 nevertheless by the prospect of imminent De- 
 struction to them all, and seeing no prospect 
 of any other means of Extrication, consented; 
 and assured him, that if he were capable of 
 devoting himself for their common preserva- 
 tion, his family should find in him a constant 
 Protector. The Heyduc instantly descend- 
 ing, advanced to meet the Wolves, who sur-
 
 MEMOIRS. 279 
 
 rounded and soon dispatched him. But, 
 his magnanimous Sacrifice of himself, by 
 checking the ardor of their pursuit, allowed 
 Count Podotski time to reach the Gates 
 of Zator in safety. I ought not to omit 
 that the Heyduc was a Dissident or Pro- 
 testant, while his Master professed the Ca- 
 tholic religion; a circumstance which greatly 
 added to the merit and effect of the Sacrifice. 
 I believe that Count Podotski most reli- 
 giously fulfilled his engagement, to befriend 
 the family of his faithful Servant. For the 
 honor of human Nature, we ought not to 
 suppose it possible that he could fail on 
 such a point. I cannot say that I have 
 heard him relate this Story, himself; but, 1 
 have received it from those persons who 
 knew its Authenticity, and who recounted it 
 to me at Vienna, while the Count was 
 engaged in the same room at Play, in the 
 Hotel of the French Embassador, the Baron 
 de Breteuil, only about two years after it 
 took place. An instance of more prompt, 
 cool, and generous self-Devotion, is perhaps 
 not to be found in the History of Mankind ; 
 nor ought its value to be in any Degree 
 diminished by the Consideration, that even 
 if the Heyduc had not acted as he did, they 
 must all probably have perished together.
 
 280 HISTORICAL 
 
 If Naples, in 1 779, offered a number of 
 enchanting Objects to the Imagination and 
 the Senses ; Florence, where I likewise pas- 
 sed a considerable time in the same year, 
 presented others not less captivating to the 
 Mind. The " Palazzo Vecchio," once in- 
 habited by the elder Cosmo, and by Lorenzo 
 de' Medicis : Names which will be for ever 
 venerated; the Chapel of St. Lorenzo, 
 where reposed the remains of so many Prin- 
 ces or Individuals of that illustrious Fami- 
 ly, whose Monuments were adorned by the 
 Hand of Michael Angelo ; the Gallery con- 
 structed for the reception of all those Mas- 
 ter-pieces of ancient, and of modern Genius, 
 which Taste and Expense had collected in 
 the lapse of Ages ; even the surrounding 
 Scenery, the River Arno, Fiesole, Vallom- 
 brosa, and every Object, awakened classic, 
 or poetic recollections. Sir Horace Mann, 
 who was then the British Minister at the 
 Court of Tuscany, had long outlived the 
 Extinction of the House of Medicis ; for 
 which Race of Princes he seemed to preserve 
 the same predilection, which Brantome al- 
 ways manifests for the Family of Valois, 
 above the Line of Bourbon. He remem- 
 bered, and personally knew, the last Grand 
 Duke of the Medicean line, John Gaston,
 
 MEMOIRS. 281 
 
 who died in 1737; in consequence of whose 
 Decease without issue, those beautiful Por- 
 tions of Italy, constituting his Dominions, 
 were finally transferred to a Prince of Lor- 
 rain. 
 
 Conversing with Sir Horace Mann, on 
 this Topic, which always excited his re- 
 gret ; " John Gaston," observed he to me, 
 " was one of the most superior and ac- 
 " complished Men, whom the present Cen- 
 " tury has witnessed, if his immoderate pur- 
 " suit of pleasures had not enervated his 
 " Mind, and debilitated his Frame. He be- 
 " came, long before his Death, incapable of 
 " continuing his family: but that inability 
 " did not produce its Extinction. A sort of 
 " fatality seemed to overhang the House of 
 " Medicis, and to render ineffectual all the 
 " measures adopted for its prolongation. 
 " When the fact became perfectly ascer- 
 " tained, that John Gaston could not per- 
 " petuate his line, the Cardinal Hippolito de 
 " Medicis, his Uncle, was selected for that 
 " purpose ; a Dispensation from his ecclesi- 
 " astical Vows, being previously obtained 
 " from the Papal See. The only, and the 
 " indispensable object of the Marriage, be-
 
 '282 HISTORICAL 
 
 " ing the attainment of Heirs male to the 
 " Grand Duchy, in order to prevent its sei- 
 " zure by foreign Violence, or its incorpora- 
 " tion with the Austrian, French, or Spanish 
 " Monarchies ; all Italy was searched, with 
 " the view of finding a young and hand- 
 " some Princess, from whom might be ex- 
 " pected a numerous Family. A Princess of 
 " Mirandola, on whom the selection fell, 
 " seemed to unite every requisite qualifica- 
 " tion. The Nuptials were solemnized ; 
 " and the Bridegroom being of a feeble Con- 
 " stitution, as well as advanced in life, it was 
 " plainly insinuated to the Lady, that for 
 " reasons of State Necessity, connected with 
 " the very political Existence of Tuscany 
 " under the reigning House, she must pro- 
 " duce an Heir. The most agreeable youths 
 " and Pages about the Court were purposely 
 " thrown in her way, and every facility was 
 "furnished, that might conduce to the ac- 
 " complishment of the Object. But, so sa- 
 " credly did she observe the Marriage Vow, 
 " that no seductions could make an impres- 
 " sion on her, and she remained without 
 " Issue. Her husband died, and was fol- 
 " lowed by John Gaston. France having 
 " acquired Lorrain, and Don Carlos being
 
 MEMOIRS. 283 
 
 " made Sovereign of Naples, Tuscany was 
 " delivered over by the great Continental 
 " Powers, as a conquered or forfeited Coun- 
 " try, to Francis, Duke of Lorrain. But, 
 " no sooner had these Events taken place, 
 " than Hippolito's Widow, who had sur- 
 " mounted every temptation to Inconstancy 
 " during his life, gave the reins to her Incli- 
 " nations, and brought into the world two 
 " or three Children, within a few years. It 
 " was thus that Florence, the repository of 
 " so many invaluable Monuments of Greek 
 " and Roman Sculpture, collected during 
 " successive Centuries, by the Princes of 
 " Medicis, together with the Territories de- 
 " pendant on it, passed into the Austrian 
 " Family." Sir Horace little foresaw at 
 that time, the new and more calamitous 
 Revolutions impending over Tuscany, about 
 to issue from the Volcano of the French Re- 
 volution. 
 
 That beautiful Country, the Cradle of the 
 fine Arts, in 1779, under the mild and paren- 
 tal government of the Grand Duke Leopold, 
 enjoyed a great degree of felicity, as well as 
 prosperity : perhaps as much, or more, than 
 at any period of its History; either when a
 
 284 HISTORICAL 
 
 Commonwealth, or under the Administra- 
 tion of the House of Medicis. While his Fa- 
 ther, the Emperor Francis, retained the So- 
 vereignty of Tuscany, that Portion of Italy 
 was considered only as a detached Province 
 of the Austrian Monarchy, rarely visited ; 
 and the internal Controul of which, Francis 
 committed to Germans, or to subjects of 
 Lorrain. But, with the Accession of Leo- 
 pold, as Grand Duke, Florence assumed a 
 new Aspect; and though he occasionally re- 
 paired to Vienna, in order to pay his duty to 
 the Empress Maria Theresa his Mother, yet 
 he was not partial to the Climate or Manners 
 of Austria. He loved the Banks of the Arno, 
 far more than those of the Danube ; dividing 
 his time between the Occupations of civil 
 Government, the Education of his numerous 
 family, which he superintended in person 
 with great care ; and the Researches of na- 
 tural Philosophy, particularly Chymistry; 
 for which last mentioned Pursuit, like the 
 Emperor Francis, he nourished a strong 
 predilection. In imitation of other royal 
 Philosophers, ancient and modern, with the 
 single illustrious Exceptions, I believe, of 
 the great Frederic, King of Prussia, and of 
 Charles the Twelfth of Sweden; he sought
 
 MEMOIRS. 285 
 
 in the gratifications of female Society, the 
 best relief from the Toils and Cares of State. 
 An English Lady, the Countess Cowper, be- 
 came at this time distinguished by his At- 
 tachment; and the exertion of his Interest 
 with Joseph the Second his Brother, pro- 
 cured her Husband, Earl Cowper, to be cre- 
 ated soon afterwards a Prince of the German 
 Empire : an Honor, which I believe, had not 
 been conferred on any British Subject, since 
 the beginning of the last Century, when John 
 Churchill, the great Duke of Marlborough, 
 was raised to the dignity of Prince of Mil- 
 denheim, by the Emperor Joseph the First, 
 after the memorable victory of Blenheim. 
 
 While I am engaged on the subject of the 
 two Brothers, Joseph and Leopold, who 
 were successively Emperors of Germany, as 
 well as Kings of Hungary and Bohemia, 1 
 shall make a few Observations relative to 
 both these Princes. The reign of Joseph, 
 comprizing more than nine years, from No- 
 vember 1780, to February 1790, may be 
 considered as one of the most unfortunate 
 and injurious in its Effects to the House of 
 Austria, which occurs in the Annals of that 
 Family. He possessed nevertheless many
 
 286 HISTORICAL 
 
 eminent Virtues; Activity, Frugality, enlarge- 
 ment of Mind, facility of Access, indefatigable 
 Application, great renunciation of Pleasure, 
 the desire of acquiring Knowledge, and of 
 ameliorating the Condition of his People. 
 But he was theoretical, of an irritable Tem- 
 per, precipitate, ambitious, despotic ; and 
 led astray by his anxiety to appear, like his 
 Contemporary, Frederic the Second, King 
 of Prussia, his own General and Minister. 
 That great Prince last named, became, him- 
 self, on more than one Occasion, during the 
 " Seven Years War," as is well known, the 
 victim of his temerity or pertinacity in reject- 
 ing the advice of his Commanders. Joseph 
 attempted, with far inferior Talents, to con- 
 duct the military Operations ; but Disaster 
 perpetually attended him in the field. Lau- 
 dohn was reduced to the necessity of forcing 
 him to quit the Camp in Lower Hungary, 
 during the War carried on against the Turks; 
 and his Arms never penetrated beyond the 
 Danube, into Servia, till he left the Army, 
 and retired to Vienna. His Alliance with 
 Catherine the Second, and his visits to the 
 Crimea in her Company, of which romantic 
 Journeys the Prince de Ligne has given us 
 such amusing Details ; produced no perma-
 
 MEMOIRS. 287 
 
 nent advantages to his Crown, or real be- 
 hefit to his People. We know that he had 
 actually made with the Russian Empress, a 
 partition of all the European portion of the 
 Turkish Dominions, and of some of the 
 Asiatic Provinces lying along the Shore of 
 the Black Sea: but, the two Sovereigns found 
 it easier to divide Poland, than to dismem- 
 ber Turkey. Joseph's imprudent, arbitrary, 
 and impolitic infractions of the privileges, or 
 constitutional rights of his Flemish Subjects, 
 when aggravated by his suppression of many 
 of the Monastic Establishments ; produced 
 either an Insurrection, or a dangerous fermen- 
 tation among the Hungarians, and through- 
 out the Austrian Netherlands. While he 
 fondly anticipated the Conquest of the Otto- 
 man Provinces beyond Belgrade, which 
 Prince Eugene had subjected to Charles the 
 Sixth, seventy years earlier ; the Hungarians 
 opened a secret Negotiation of the most 
 dangerous nature, with the Court of Berlin ; 
 and the Flemings overturned the Imperial 
 Government at Brussels. Even the Arch- 
 duchy of Austria, and the Kingdom of Bo- 
 hemia, manifested symptoms of Disaffection : 
 while the French Revolution, which had 
 commenced in the Summer of 1789, advanc-
 
 288 HISTORICAL 
 
 ing with gigantic steps towards Democracy, 
 Anarchy, and external Violence, painfully 
 attracted his Attention on that vulnerable 
 Quarter, which He had imprudently dis- 
 mantled and laid open to Invasion. Such 
 was the critical and convulsed State of the 
 Austrian Monarchy, when Joseph expired 
 at Vienna, in the Spring of 1790, at the age 
 of forty-nine ; leaving no Issue by either of 
 his Wives ; but, extenuated by Diseases, 
 caused or accelerated in their progress, by 
 his own irritability of Temper, agitation of 
 Mind, and the augmenting embarrassment of 
 his Affairs. 
 
 Leopold, who succeeded him, and who 
 was unquestionably a Prince of deep Re- 
 flection, enlarged Capacity, and sound Judg- 
 ment ; perceived the Misfortunes which had 
 flowed from the spirit of Innovation, Reform, 
 and restless Activity or Ambition, that had 
 characterized his Brother. But, it was not 
 easy for him to withdraw from the political 
 Connexions formed by Joseph, with the Em- 
 press Catherine the Second. Yet, alarmed 
 at the state of Flanders and of Hungary, 
 while he dreaded the issue of the revolu- 
 tionary Struggle in which his Brother-in-law,
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Louis the Sixteenth, was involved with his 
 subjects ; Leopold, after many doubts, and 
 much hesitation, finally determined to quit 
 the Alliance of Russia. A Circumstance 
 which took place not long after his Acces- 
 sion, confirmed him in the resolution. Po- 
 temkin, who then governed his imperial 
 Mistress and the Court of Petersburgh; 
 commanding the Armies of that Power in 
 the vicinity of Oczakow, on the Coast of the 
 Black Sea, pushed his Conquests against 
 the Turks, so far to the Westward, in Mol- 
 davia and Walachia, as to approach the 
 Austrian Frontier, on the Lower Danube, 
 in Servia. Uneasy at the advances of such 
 a neighbour, the Emperor addressed a letter 
 to him, couched in very obliging language ; 
 but, intimating His Imperial Majesty's 
 wishes that he would desist from prosecu- 
 ting his advantages any further on that side. 
 Potemkin, intoxicated with favor, brutal in 
 his Manners, insolent, and restrained by no 
 considerations of policy, or of respect for 
 the Dignity of the writer, had the audacity 
 to throw the letter on the ground, in the 
 Presence of various Persons, to spit upon 
 it, and to trample it under foot; adding the 
 most injurious or insulting Epithets relative 
 VOL.I. u
 
 290 HISTORICAL 
 
 personally to Leopold. These barbarous 
 and impolitic Ebullitions of his rage, were 
 reported soon afterwards to the Emperor, 
 by Foscari, the Venetian Embassador at the 
 Court of Petersburgh ; who having returned 
 to Venice, and there meeting His Imperial 
 Majesty, acquainted him with the facts. 
 Leopold heard the Narration with great 
 apparent Calmness, but such an insult did 
 not make the less deep impression on his 
 Mind. We may however assume with Pro- 
 bability, that before Potemkin would have 
 ventured on so outrageous an act of Con- 
 tempt toward his Sovereign's Ally, he had 
 good reason to believe that the existing ties 
 between the two Courts or Sovereigns, were 
 about to be dissolved, and new Alliances to 
 be formed by Austria. 
 
 In fact, Leopold, from an early period of 
 his Reign, turned all his views towards the 
 two Courts of Berlin and London. After 
 concluding a Treaty at Reichenbach, with 
 the King of Prussia, he made Peace with 
 the Turks at Sistova ; wisely renouncing all 
 his Brother Joseph's Conquests in Bosnia 
 and Servia, restoring Belgrade to the Porte, 
 and abandoning his Connexions with Cathe-
 
 MEMOIRS. 291 
 
 Tine. Impelled by an anxious desire of 
 arresting the Course of those French Revo- 
 lutionary Principles, which, he foresaw, 
 would, if not checked, eventually involve 
 Europe in the greatest Calamities, he set on 
 foot the celebrated Interview of Pilnitz. In 
 the Summer of 1791, having repaired with 
 his eldest Son, the present Emperor Francis, 
 to the Castle or hunting Seat of that name, 
 belonging to the Elector of Saxony, situate 
 near Dresden ; Frederic William, accom- 
 panied in like manner by his future Suc- 
 cessor, the reigning King of Prussia, there 
 met Leopold. Their Conferences led to a 
 Treaty, which adopted as its fundamental 
 Basis, the Resolution " not to make war 
 " on France, but to arm against the intro- 
 " duction of French Revolutionary Prin- 
 " ciples into Germany and the Low Coun- 
 " tries." The Emperor, who had formed 
 an opinion to which he systematically ad- 
 hered, that the Republican Faction in Paris 
 would only be aided by Aggression and Hos- 
 tility, thought that War must therefore be 
 avoided: but, he conceived that the great 
 Powers of Europe should arm against French 
 Principles, by forming a military Cordon 
 round France ; thus shutting in, if I may so 
 u2
 
 292 HISTORICAL 
 
 express myself, the moral or political Infec- 
 tion, and leaving them to exhaust their de- 
 mocratic rage on each other. 
 
 Such was the unquestionable object and 
 scope of that memorable Treaty of Pilnitz, 
 relative to which so much has been said or 
 written within the last twenty years, and 
 whose very Existence has been called in 
 Question. How far the Plan might have 
 proved efficacious, if it had been generally 
 acted upon by all the Germanic Body, as 
 early as 1791 ; and if Leopold, who framed 
 it, had lived to conduct its Operations ; it is 
 difficult to venture a decided Opinion : but, 
 for the authenticity of the Fact itself, I think 
 I may challenge Contradiction, Perhaps, 
 moral and political Principles are not to be 
 shut in or compressed by any defensive pre- 
 cautions which can be adopted by human 
 wisdom. I am fully convinced at least, that 
 when Mr. Pitt, early in 1793, declared open 
 Hostility on France, he could not have saved 
 England by temporizing Measures. Nay, I 
 thought at the time, and I continue so to 
 think now, after the lapse of more than 
 twenty years, that Mr. Fox would have 
 formed the same Estimate, and would have
 
 MEMOIRS. 293 
 
 acted precisely in the same manner, if he 
 had been seated in Mr. Pitt's place, as First 
 Minister, on the Treasury Bench. The 
 whole difference in their mode of seeing and 
 appreciating the tendency of the French 
 Revolution, lay in the possession, or the 
 .negation, of political Power. Indeed, the 
 fact was practically proved, when Fox, after 
 Pitt's Decease in 1806, arrived at Employ- 
 ment. It soon became evident how much 
 his attainment of a Seat in the Cabinet, had 
 illuminated his understanding, as well as 
 invigorated his Measures, in opposition to 
 revolutionary Principles and their conse- 
 quences. Fox's masterly Speech on the 
 Cession of the two Margraviates of Anspach 
 and Bareith to Bavaria, by Frederic William 
 King of Prussia, and his Acceptance of 
 Hanover from Bonaparte, as a Compensa- 
 tion ; sufficiently demonstrated that he then 
 saw through the Optics of Pitt and Burke. 
 The present Earl of Chatham, if he had been 
 seated under the Gallery at the Time, might 
 have exclaimed with Isabella in " Measure 
 for Measure," on hearing the Secretary's 
 Harangue, 
 
 " There spake my Brother. There my Father's Grave 
 Did utter forth a Voice !"
 
 294 HISTORICAI- 
 
 I return to Leopold. So anxious was 
 he to form a defensive League against 
 the French Republican Contagion, that on 
 the very Day succeeding his Coronation at 
 Frankfort, as Emperor of Germany, in the 
 Autumn of 1790, he despatched a confiden- 
 tial Agent, whom I well know, and who is 
 still living, to the Court of Berlin, empowered 
 to open a private Negotiation with Frederic 
 William. It was confined personally to the 
 two Sovereigns ; their respective first Minis- 
 ters, Kaunitz and Hertzberg, being excluded 
 from any knowledge of the Transaction. The 
 King of Prussia, who came readily into 
 Leopold's views, employed Bischoffswerder, 
 his Favorite, to carry back his assent. But, 
 no final or effectual Measures, as they well 
 knew, could be settled, without the parti- 
 cipation of England. Mr. Pitt and Lord 
 Grenville entered ardently into the Plan, 
 which had principally in view two Objects ; 
 to arrest the arms of Catherine on the Shore 
 of the Euxine, and to coerce the Repub- 
 licans of Paris, without making offensive 
 War on France. The former of these points 
 would unquestionably have been attained, if 
 Mr. Fox had not excited so formidable an 
 Opposition in the House of Commons, as
 
 MEMOIRS. 295 
 
 compelled the Ministry reluctantly to recede 
 from their Engagements. He at the same 
 time sent Mr. Adair, as his own private 
 Agent, to Petersburgh ; an act, for which, 
 many persons thought that he deserved Im- 
 peachment, far more than Hastings merited 
 Prosecution on Account of his Conduct 
 while Governor General of India. Leopold, 
 apprehensive of Catherine's resentment, 
 doubtful of Mr. Pitt's and Lord Grenville's 
 sincerity, nor without alarm at the murmurs 
 which he foresaw would arise among his 
 own Troops, on the evacuation of Belgrade, 
 and the Restitution of his Conquests in Ser- 
 via ; said to a Gentleman, a Native of Great 
 Britain, deep in his Confidence, with whom 
 he was accustomed to unbosom his thoughts, 
 and who had formed the medium of his In- 
 tercourse with Frederic William, " J'ai sign& 
 la Paix avec les Turcs : mais, la Grande 
 Bretagne, est-elle sincere? Me tiendra-t-elle 
 ses Engagemens ? Catherine sera inexorable. 
 Je Vai vu en Songe, Hier, la nuit, le Poignard 
 ct la Main" He even disapproved and 
 lamented the line of Conduct adopted by 
 Pitt towards the Empress, in the Business 
 ofOczakow, as severe, irritating, and cal- 
 culated to render her implacable. " Why,"
 
 296 HISTORICAL 
 
 observed Leopold, speaking to the same 
 friend, " rob the Empress of her laurels, 
 " and humiliate Her in the eyes of Europe ? 
 * It is necessary that her Head should be 
 " encircled with Glory, in order to hide 
 " her Feet, which are all stained with 
 " Blood." In fact, Catherine, who never 
 forgave either Austria, Prussia, or England, 
 for their conduct towards her, propelled 
 those Powers to commence War on France 
 in 1792 ; but, she extended no Assistance to 
 them in the Contest. On the contrary, she 
 compelled Frederic William to withdraw 
 from the great Alliance, and to return home, 
 by attacking Poland. " If," said the King, 
 addressing himself to the distinguished Indi- 
 vidual already alluded to, " I had not 
 " marched my Army back into my own 
 " Dominions, she would not only have taken 
 " Warsaw, but have entered Berlin likewise 
 " with her Troops." It was Russia, there- 
 fore, which acted as one great Cause of the 
 Overthrow of the first Confederacy formed 
 against Republican France. 
 
 During the Autumn of the year 1791, 
 Leopold being on his way from Vienna to 
 Florence, stopped, for the Purpose of Re*
 
 MEMOIRS. 297 
 
 freshment, at a small post House in the 
 Duchy of Styria ; where, while he remained, 
 a croud of his own Subjects, pressed round 
 to look at him. Among them he remarked 
 an old Woman, who, when he got into his 
 Carriage, approached it ; and knocking 
 against the Glass with her hand, addressed 
 some words to him in a tone of great vio- 
 lence and asperity, accompanied with Ges- 
 tures indicative of resentment : but, as she 
 spoke in the Styrian Dialect, he was wholly 
 unable to comprehend her meaning. Ap- 
 prehending that she might have some Com- 
 plaint to prefer, or might have received some 
 Injury demanding redress, he ordered his 
 Attendants to question her on the subject of 
 her application. They manifested consider- 
 able reluctance in explaining to him its na- 
 ture; but on his insisting to be informed, 
 one of them answered that she said, " Ren- 
 " der Justice promptly. We know all that 
 " the Poissardes have done at Paris." The 
 Emperor made no reply ; but, when he re- 
 counted the Story to the Gentleman who re- 
 lated it to me, and to whom He was used to 
 speak without Reserve, he added, " You 
 " may suppose that I have read and reflected 
 " much upon the French Revolution, and
 
 298 HISTORICAL 
 
 " its Consequences : but, all that has been 
 " said, or can be written upon it, never car- 
 " ried such Conviction to my Mind, as the 
 " few words uttered by the old Woman in 
 " Styria." They forcibly remind us of the 
 Female, who observed to Alexander the 
 Great, that if he was not at Leisure to hear 
 Abuses, and to redress Grievances, why did 
 he reign ? 
 
 Notwithstanding all the efforts made by 
 the Emigrants, for inducing Leopold to 
 commence War with France, he remained 
 inflexibly steady to his System of arming 
 against the Revolution, but of never attack- 
 ing the French Nation. It was not till after 
 his Decease, under Francis, his Successor, in 
 the Summer of 1792, that the Austrians en- 
 tered Champagne, in conjunction with the 
 Prussian Forces. Leopold's Death took 
 place on the first day of March, that very 
 year, at Prague ; to which City he had re- 
 paired for the purpose of being there crowned 
 King of Bohemia. I think I may venture to 
 assert with Confidence, that he was poison- 
 ed ; and that the Poison was administered in 
 Confectionary, which a Lady presented him 
 at a Masquerade. Every Endeavour was
 
 MEMOIRS. 299 
 
 used to conceal the fact ; and with that 
 view, it was pretended that his End had 
 been produced by some Drugs or Incentives, 
 which he himself prepared in his own Labo- 
 ratory : for, he passed much time in chymi- 
 cal researches and processes. But, Agu- 
 sius, his Physician, who opened his Body, 
 did not entertain any doubt that he fell a 
 victim to Poison. 
 
 During the Spring of the year 1798, chan- 
 cing to be alone with a foreign Nobleman, 
 in London ; whose name I do not think pro- 
 per to mention, he being still alive, but 
 whose veracity was unquestionable; and 
 who, as having been the Embassador of a 
 Crowned Head, at the Court of Vienna, 
 when Leopold's Death happened, must have 
 possessed the best means of obtaining Infor- 
 mation ; I ventured to interrogate him on 
 the subject. " I was accustomed," answered 
 he, " during the last year of the Emperor's 
 " life, to see him frequently, and to have 
 " long Audiences of him, on Business, in his 
 " Closet. During these Interviews, I be- 
 " held him when divested of any disguise ; 
 " and I can pronounce, as a matter of cer- 
 " tainty, that the Force of his Mind was then
 
 300 HISTORICAL 
 
 " altogether broken, and his Faculties en- 
 " feebled. His Memory in particular had 
 " become so weakened, that he could no 
 " longer retain from one Day to another, the 
 " facts or images committed to it. He rarely 
 " recollected the Conversation of the preced^ 
 " ing Morning. This premature Decay of 
 " his intellectual powers, resulted from his 
 " inordinate passion for the other Sex, which 
 " had characterised him at every period of 
 " his life, and which he continued to indulge 
 " when it proved destructive to his frame. 
 " The Brain was particularly affected. In 
 " my Audiences of Leopold, he always 
 " walked up and down the Apartment, dur- 
 " ing the whole time. On his Table lay a 
 " number of rolls of Wax, which he bit from 
 " one Minute to another, spitting out the 
 " pieces on the floor. When he quitted the 
 " room, whether any other persons were pre- 
 " sent, or whether we were alone, he never 
 " advanced forward in a straight line ; but 
 " he went round the sides of the Chamber, 
 " touching with his hand the Wainscot, or 
 " the Window shutters. No Circumstances 
 " could more strongly indicate a disordered 
 " or enfeebled Understanding. As to the 
 " nature of his Death, I am unable positively
 
 MEMOIRS. 301 
 
 *' to pronounce upon the fact. Certainly, 
 " his Body, when opened, exhibited every 
 " mark of Poison. But, if he was poisoned, 
 " by whom was it administered, or with 
 " what Object ? I cannot pretend to guess, 
 " nor even to form a Conjecture." Two Opi- 
 nions, as 1 have been assured, prevailed at 
 Prague, respecting it; both of which were 
 alike founded on Leopold's well known de- 
 termination not to engage in a War with 
 France. One Party maintained that the Gi- 
 rondists, which Faction then predominated 
 at Paris, dreading the effects of his defensive 
 System, as most injurious to their tenure of 
 Power, removed him in the manner related : 
 while another Party accused the Emigrants 
 of having produced his Death, as the only 
 means left them of regaining their Estates, by 
 forcing an immediate rupture between the 
 Austrian and French Governments. 1 must 
 leave the fact problematical. Time, how- 
 ever, will probably elucidate its nature. 
 
 Among the Objects of mingled Curiosity 
 and Compassion, which Florence presented 
 in 1779, to the view of an Englishman, was 
 the Chevalier de St. George ; or, as we com- 
 monly denominate him, the Pretender. It
 
 HISTORICAL 
 
 was impossible to contemplate him, without 
 making many reflections on his own Destiny, 
 and on the condition of the infatuated Fa- 
 mily of which he was the Representative. 
 Neither ancient, nor modern History, pre- 
 sents the example of a line of Princes so 
 eminently unfortunate, during a succession 
 of Ages ! The Calamities which overwhelmed 
 the House of Bourbon, awful as they must 
 be esteemed, have been comprized within the 
 space of five and twenty years : but, from 
 James the First of Scotland, murdered in 
 the most inhuman manner, at Perth, in 1437, 
 down to the last of his Descendants ; with 
 only the two exceptions of James the First 
 of England, and Charles the Second ; all 
 the others perished by the hand of the Exe- 
 cutioner, or by violent and premature Peath, 
 or died in Exile, maintained by foreign Con- 
 tribution. It was not, however, merely when 
 considered as the Grandson of James the 
 Second, and the Inheritor of the pretensions 
 of the Stuarts, that the Chevalier de St. 
 George excited an Interest in the mind of 
 every reflecting Spectator. By his Mother, 
 he descended from the celebrated John So- 
 bieski, King of Poland, who was his mater- 
 nal great Grandfather ; the first Chevalier de
 
 MEMOIRS. 303 
 
 St. George having carried off from Inspruck, 
 about the year 1719, and married, Clementi- 
 na Sobieska, daughter and heiress of Prince 
 James Sobieski, whom Charles the Twelfth, 
 King of Sweden, meditated, some years ear- 
 lier, to have placed on the Polish Throne. In 
 right of that Princess, her Son succeeded to 
 very considerable patrimonial Estates situ- 
 ated in Poland ; the produce of which, form- 
 ed a much more solid source of Support, 
 than the precarious Allowance or Donations, 
 made and withdrawn as Circumstances im- 
 pelled, by the French and Spanish Crowns, 
 or by the Apostolic See. Clement the Four- 
 teenth (Ganganelli), when he refused to con- 
 tinue to the Chevalier, the public Honors 
 previously enjoyed by his Father and himself 
 at Rome, where a Canopy, decorated with 
 the Royal Arms of Great Britain, was erect- 
 ed over their Box in the Theatre ; retrenched 
 likewise the pecuniary Appointments, antece- 
 dently paid him out of the Treasury of St. 
 Peter. Nor do I believe that they were re- 
 stored by Pius the Sixth, after his Election 
 to the Papal Chair in 1775 : but, the Pre- 
 tender's Income at the time of which I speak, 
 might be estimated at more than five thou- 
 sand Pounds Sterling ; a Sum fully ade-
 
 304 HISTORICAL 
 
 quate, at Florence, to maintain an Establish- 
 ment becoming his situation. 
 
 His Faculties, even in their Zenith, appear 
 to have been very moderate : but his Valour, 
 though not heroic, was never, 1 believe, cal- 
 led in question by the Scots, during his 
 Campaign in 1745 and 1746; as that of 
 Charles the Second had been doubted in 
 1652, at the Battle of Worcester ; and as 
 James the Second's Courage was questioned, 
 on various Occasions, both as Lord High 
 Admiral, on the water, during the two 
 Dutch Wars under his Brother's Reign, 
 and on the land. Charles the First is in- 
 deed the only Prince of the Stuart Race, 
 after their Accession to the English Throne, 
 whose Bravery, conspicuously displayed at 
 Edge Hill, at Newbury, at Naseby, and in 
 many other Battles or Encounters, during 
 the Course of the Civil Wars, equally sus- 
 tained him in the last act of his life, on the 
 Scaffold. In 1779, Charles Edward exhi- 
 bited to the world, a very humiliating Spec- 
 tacle. At the Theatre, where he appeared 
 almost every Evening, he was conducted by 
 his Domestics, who laid him on a species of 
 Sofa, in the back part of his Box ; while
 
 MEMOIRS. 305 
 
 the Countess d' Albany, his Consort, occu- 
 pied the front seat during the whole Per- 
 formance. Count Alfieri, a Man singularly 
 eccentric in his Mind, Habits, and Manners ; 
 whose dramatic Productions have since ren- 
 dered him known ; her " Cavaliero ser- 
 " vante" always attended on her in public, 
 according to the established usages of So- 
 ciety throughout Italy. As, for obvious 
 reasons, English Subjects could not be pre- 
 sented to a man who still laid Claim to the 
 British Crown ; no Opportunity of distinctly 
 seeing the Chevalier de St. George, offered 
 itself, except across the Theatre : and even 
 there he lay concealed, as I have already ob- 
 served, on account of his infirmities : rarely 
 coming forward to view. 
 
 Being desirous, therefore, to obtain a more 
 accurate idea of his Face and Person, than 
 could be acquired at such a distance; I 
 took my station, one Evening, at the head of 
 a private Staircase, neaT the Door by which, 
 when the Performance closed, he quitted the 
 Playhouse. Previous to my leaving Eng- 
 land in 1777, His Majesty had been pleased, 
 at the application of Lord Robert Manners, 
 who then commanded the third Regiment of 
 
 VOL. i. x
 
 306 HISTORICAL 
 
 Dragoon Guards, to give me a Lieutenant's 
 Commission ; and Lord Robert had allowed 
 me to wear his Uniform, which I had on at 
 the time. The present General Manners, 
 now first Equerry to the King, and who has 
 represented the Town of Cambridge in Par- 
 liament for a great number of years ; then a 
 Cornet in his father's Regiment, dressed in 
 the same Uniform, and actuated by a similar 
 Curiosity, accompanied me. As soon as the 
 Chevalier approached near enough to distin- 
 guish the English Regimental, he instantly 
 stopped, gently shook off the two Servants 
 who supported him, one on each side ; and 
 taking off his Hat, politely saluted us. He 
 then passed on to his Carriage, sustained by 
 the two Attendants, as he descended the 
 Staircase. I could not help, as I looked at 
 him, recollecting the series of Dangers and 
 Escapes which he underwent or effected, for 
 successive Months, among the Hebrides, 
 after his defeat at Culloden : a chain of Ad- 
 ventures which has no parallel among mo- 
 dern Nations, except in those equally extra- 
 ordinary Hardships which distinguished the 
 flight of Charles the Second from Worces- 
 ter ; or in the romantic Extremities to which 
 Stanislaus, King of Poland, was reduced in
 
 MEMOIRS, 307 
 
 I?34, after his Evasion and Flight fi-om 
 Dantzic. Mrs. Lane gave to the former of 
 those Princes, the same noble proofs of dis- 
 interested Devotion, which Flora Macdonald 
 displayed towards the Pretender : and both 
 were eminently indebted for their final preser- 
 vation, to female Honor or Loyalty. Charles 
 Edward's Complexion was dark, and he 
 manifestly bore the same family resemblance 
 to his Grandfather James the Second, that 
 His Britannic Majesty's Countenance pre- 
 sents to George the First, or to the late 
 King. On the Occasion just related, he 
 wore, besides the Decorations of the Order 
 of the Garter, a velvet great Coat, which his 
 infirm Health rendered necessary, even in 
 Summer, on coming out of the Theatre ; and 
 a cocked Hat, the sides of which were half 
 drawn up with gold twist. His whole Figure, 
 paralytic and debilitated, presented the ap- 
 pearance of great bodily Decay. 
 
 The strength of his Mind had likewise 
 become extinct at this time; and with the 
 decline of his intellectual Powers, the sua- 
 vity of his Temper forsaking him, he became 
 irritable, morose, and intractable, particu- 
 larly in his family. An unhappy propensity 
 x 2
 
 308 HISTORICAL 
 
 to Wine, which he gratified to Excess, while 
 it enervated his System, rendered him fre- 
 quently an object of Pity or of Contempt, 
 when in public ; divesting him of that Dig- 
 nity which would otherwise have always ac- 
 companied the Descendant and Representa- 
 tive of so many Kings. His Misfortunes, 
 Exile, and anomalous Situation, aggravated 
 by mortifications of various kinds which he 
 had undergone, both in France, and at 
 Rome ; probably induced him to have re- 
 course to the Grape, for procuring Oblivion, 
 or dispensing temporary felicity. That me- 
 lancholy Indulgence extinguished the last 
 hope which Fortune ever tendered him of as- 
 cending the Throne of England, justly for- 
 feited by the Tyranny and imbecile Bigotry 
 of James the Second. 
 
 I know from high Authority, that as late 
 as the year 1770, the Duke de Choiseul, 
 then First Minister of France, not deterred 
 by the ill success of the Attempts made in 
 1715, and in 1745, meditated to undertake 
 a third Effort for restoring the House of 
 Stuart. His enterprizing Spirit led him to 
 profit of the Dispute which arose between 
 the English and Spanish Crowns, respecting
 
 MEMOIRS. 309 
 
 the possession of Falkland Islands, in order 
 to accomplish the Object. As the first step 
 necessary towards it, he dispatched a pri- 
 vate Emissary to Rome, who signified to 
 Charles Edward, the Duke's desire of seeing 
 him immediately at Paris. He complied, 
 and arrived in that City with the utmost 
 privacy. Having announced it to Choiseul, 
 the Minister fixed the same Night, at twelve 
 o'Clock, when he and the Marshal de Broglio 
 would be ready to receive the Pretender, 
 and to lay before him their plan for an Inva- 
 sion of England. The Hotel de Choiseul 
 was named for the Interview, to which place 
 he was enjoined to repair in a hackney 
 Coach, disguised, and without any Attendant. 
 At the appointed time, the Duke and the 
 Marshal, furnished with the requisite papers 
 and instructions drawn up for his conduct 
 on the Expedition, were ready: but, after 
 waiting a full Hour, expecting his appear- 
 ance every instant, when the Clock struck 
 one, they concluded that some unforeseen 
 Accident must have intervened to prevent his 
 Arrival. Under this Impression they were 
 preparing to separate, when the noise of 
 wheels was heard in the Court yard ; and a 
 few Moments afterwards, the Pretender en- 
 tered the room, in a state of such Intoxica-
 
 310 HISTORICAL 
 
 tion, as to be utterly incapable even of ordi- 
 nary Conversation. Disgusted, as well as 
 indignant, at this disgraceful Conduct, and 
 well convinced that no Expedition under- 
 taken for the restoration of a man so lost to 
 every sense of decency or self-interest, could 
 be crowned with Success; Choiseul, without 
 hesitation, sent him, next Morning, a pe- 
 remptory Order to quit the French Domi- 
 nions. The Pretender returned to Italy; 
 and the Nobleman who related to me these 
 particulars, being in Company with the late 
 Duke of Glocester, in 1770, while walking 
 together in the Streets of Genoa, met the 
 Chevalier de St. George, then on his way 
 back from France to Rome. The Duke de 
 Choiseul was soon afterwards dismissed by 
 Louis the Fifteenth, and new principles of 
 policy were adopted in the Cabinet of Ver- 
 sailles. The Contest respecting the Falkland 
 Islands being accommodated, Peace continu- 
 ed to subsist between the Courts of France 
 and England: while Charles Edward, driven 
 by the Mortifications which he experienced 
 at Rome, to abandon that City, sought Re- 
 fuge at Florence; where he finished in Janu- 
 ary, 1788, his inglorious Career, as James 
 the Second had done in 1701, at the Palace 
 of St. Germain, in the Vicinity of Paris,
 
 MEMOIRS. 311 
 
 Louisa of Stolberg, Countess d' Albany, 
 his Consort, merited a more agreeable Part- 
 ner, and might, herself, have graced a Throne. 
 When I saw her at Florence, though she had 
 been long married, she was not quite twenty- 
 seven years of age. Her person was formed 
 on a small scale: she had a fair Complexion, 
 delicate Features, and lively, as well as at- 
 tractive Manners. Born Princess of Stolberg- 
 Gedern, she excited great Admiration on 
 her first Arrival from Germany: but in 1779, 
 no hope of Issue by the Chevalier could be 
 any longer entertained ; and their mutual 
 infelicity had attained to such a height, that 
 she made various ineffectual attempts to 
 obtain a Separation. The French Court 
 may indeed be censured, in the Eye of 
 Policy, for not having earlier negotiated and 
 concluded the Pretender's Marriage, if it 
 was desired to perpetuate the Stuart Line of 
 Claimants to the English Crown. When 
 Charles Edward espoused the Princess of 
 Stolberg, he had passed his fiftieth year, 
 was broken in Constitution, and debilitated 
 by Excesses of many kinds. Previous to his 
 Decease, she quitted Italy, and finally esta- 
 blished herself at Paris. In the year 1787, 
 I have passed the Evening at her residence,
 
 312 HISTORICAL 
 
 the Hotel de Bourgogne, situate in the Faux- 
 bourg St. Germain, where she supported an 
 elegant Establishment. Her Person then 
 still retained many pretensions to Beauty ; 
 and her Deportment, unassuming, but dig- 
 nified, set off her Attractions. In one of the 
 Apartments stood a Canopy, with a Chair of 
 State, on which were displayed the royal 
 Arms of Great Britain ; and every piece of 
 Plate, down to the very Tea-spoons, were 
 ornamented in a similar manner. Some of 
 the more massy pieces, which were said to 
 have belonged to Mary of Modena, James 
 the Second's Queen, seemed to revive the 
 extinct recollections of the Revolution of 
 1688. A numerous Company, both English 
 and French, male and female, was assembled 
 under her roof, by all of whom she was ad- 
 dressed only as Countess d'Albany: but her 
 own Domestics, when serving her, invariably 
 gave her the title of Majesty. The Honors 
 of a Queen, were in like manner paid her by 
 the Nuns of all those Convents in Paris, 
 which she was accustomed to visit on certain 
 Holydays or festivals. She continued to re- 
 side in the Capital of France, till the cala- 
 mitous progress of the French Revolution, 
 compelling her to abandon that Country, she
 
 MEMOIRS. 313 
 
 repaired to London; where she found not 
 only personal protection, but new resources 
 in the. Liberality and Bounty of George the 
 Third. 
 
 While I am engaged on the Adventures of 
 the Stuart Family, I shall commemorate a 
 fact, which will probably impress every rea- 
 der with astonishment. Dining at the pre- 
 sent Earl of Hard wick's, in London, with 
 a large Company, in June, 1796 ; among the 
 persons present, was the late Sir John Dal- 
 rymple, known by his " History of Eng- 
 land," and " State Papers." The Conversa- 
 tion turning on historical Subjects, he assured 
 us that the Princess Sophia, Mother of King 
 George the First, who would have ascended 
 the Throne of Great Britain in her own per- 
 son, if she had not died about seven Weeks 
 before Queen Anne ; was nevertheless a de- 
 termined Jacobite in her political Principles. 
 On our expressing the Amazement which 
 such an Assertion was calculated to produce, 
 he declared, that while he was occupied in 
 looking over the memorable Chest preserved 
 in Kensington Palace, from which, in the 
 beginning of the present reign, he took the 
 State Papers given by Him to the world ; he
 
 314 HISTORICAL 
 
 found a Bundle of Letters, marked on the 
 back, in King William's own hand-writing, 
 4< Letters of the Elec tress Sophia to the 
 Court of St. Germain's." Having perused 
 them, he ascertained beyond any Doubt, 
 that Sophia was really engaged in close 
 Correspondence with James the Second, 
 and attached to his Interests, in opposition 
 to those of William. Lord Rochford, who 
 was then Secretary of State, having pro- 
 cured for Sir John Dalrymple, permission 
 from His Majesty, to examine and publish 
 the Papers in question; he immediately 
 communicated to that Nobleman his Disco- 
 very: requesting at the same time, his Lord- 
 ship's Sanction or Approbation, in giving to 
 the World the Letters of the Electress So- 
 phia. " Publish them by all means, Jack,** 
 answered he. Thus empowered from such 
 Authority, Dalrymple destined them with- 
 out Delay for the Press : but, before he 
 had time to get the Letters copied, Lord 
 Rochford sent to him, desiring to have them 
 delivered back to himself, in order that he 
 might submit them to His Majesty's Inspec- 
 tion; he having on more mature reflection, 
 judged it proper to take the King's pleasure 
 on a matter of such Delicacy and Singularity.
 
 MEMOIRS. 315 
 
 Dalrymple returned them therefore to Lord 
 Rochford, who carried them to the Queen's 
 House, and presented the Bundle to His 
 Majesty. But, they were neither restored, 
 nor was even any Allusion to them ever 
 made in Conversation by the King; he no 
 doubt conceiving it more judicious to com- 
 mit such Documents to the flames, than to 
 permit their publication. However extraor- 
 dinary this Anecdote may appear, it ought 
 not to surprize, on full consideration, that 
 Sophia should feel the warmest Attachment 
 to James the Second. He was very nearly 
 related to her by Consanguinity ; her Mother, 
 Elizabeth, the unfortunate Queen of Bohe- 
 mia, and Charles the First, his Father, being 
 Brother and Sister. Nor could Sophia, dur- 
 ing many years subsequent to the Revolu- 
 tion of 1688, nourish the slightest Expecta- 
 tion of being called to the British Throne, 
 while the Princess Anne and her Issue in- 
 terposed between the House of Brunswic 
 and that Succession. Jt was not till after 
 the Death of William, the young Duke of 
 Glocester, in 1700, when the Princess So- 
 phia and her Descendants being named by 
 Act of Parliament, to succeed eventually to 
 the Crown of Great Britain, as the nearest
 
 316 HISTORICAL 
 
 Protestant Heirs of the Royal line ; her Inte- 
 rests from that Period, became opposed to 
 the right of Blood existing in the Stuart race. 
 
 Brussels, where I made a short stay in 
 the Summer of the same year, 1779, exhibit- 
 ed another Prince in a state of physical and 
 mental Infirmity, not less calculated to excite 
 pity than the Pretender. The Austrian Ne- 
 therlands were at that Time administered, 
 as they had been almost ever since the Peace 
 of Aix-la Chapellein 1748, by Prince Charles 
 of Lorrain, as Representative of the Em- 
 press-Queen. His double Alliance, both by 
 Consanguinity and by Marriage, with the 
 Emperor Francis and Maria Theresa ; being 
 Brother to the former, and having married 
 the Sister of the latter Sovereign ; these 
 qualities and pretensions, rather than any 
 mental Endowments, civil or military, had 
 raised him to the Government of the Low 
 Countries, the most enviable delegation of 
 sovereign Power then existing in Europe. 
 Neither Hungary, nor the Milaneze, nor 
 Sicily, nor Sardinia, nor Ireland, nor Nor- 
 way, could enter into any political Compe- 
 tition with the rich Provinces of Flanders, 
 Haynault, and Brabant. Brussels consti-
 
 MEMOIRS. 317 
 
 tuted one of the most pleasing, as well as 
 elegant, Courts of the Continent; its local 
 Position, almost central between Germany, 
 Holland, France, and England, rendering it 
 far more important in a diplomatic point of 
 view, than either Venice, Turin, Warsaw, or 
 Naples ; perhaps I might add, even than 
 Copenhagen or Stockholm. Prince Charles 
 of Lorrain having been bred to the profession 
 of Arms from his early youth, and possess- 
 ing an athletic frame of Body, united with 
 unquestionable personal Courage, had more 
 than once nominally commanded the Aus- 
 trian Armies. His passage of the Rhine in 
 1744, and his irruption into Alsace, acquired 
 him a degree of Reputation, which he by no 
 means afterwards preserved during the me- 
 morable " Seven Years War." To Frederic, 
 King of Prussia, he formed indeed a most 
 unequal Antagonist, as that great Prince suf- 
 ficiently proved at the Battle of Lissa in 
 December, 1757, where he defeated the Aus- 
 trians, and on many other Occasions. When 
 I was presented to Prince Charles, in Au- 
 gust, 1779, he might be regarded as perform- 
 ing the last of the Seven Ages of Man, and 
 as sinking fast into " mere Oblivion." At his 
 Levee he seemed apparently unconscious of
 
 318 HISTORICAL 
 
 any thing beyond the mere Ceremony of the 
 Hour, even his speech and articulation being 
 rendered very indistinct by a paralytic Affec- 
 tion. He expired in the following' Summer, 
 at his Palace in the Vicinity of Brussels, re- 
 gretted by the Flemings for his Moderation ; 
 and was succeeded in the Government gene- 
 ral of the Netherlands, by the Archduchess 
 Christina, the favorite Daughter of the Em- 
 press Queen Maria Theresa. 
 
 Never did a deeper political Gloom over- 
 spread England, than in the Autumn of 1779, 
 when I arrived in London from the Conti- 
 nent. I question, whether at the time of 
 the Destruction of the Ships of war lying in 
 the Medway, burnt by the Dutch, under 
 Charles the Second ; or after the Defeat of 
 the English and Dutch combined Fleets by 
 the French, off Beachy-Head, in 1 690, under 
 William and Mary ; which constitute two of 
 the most calamitous Epochas in our History; 
 greater Despondency, Consternation, and 
 general Dissatisfaction, prevailed through- 
 out the Kingdom. The disgraceful naval 
 Campaign of 1778, in which Keppel's En- 
 gagement offUshant, forms the principal or 
 only feature ; had been succeeded by another
 
 MEMOIRS. 319 
 
 year of Hostilities, still more humiliating to 
 Great Britain. D'Orvilliers, at the head of 
 the Fleets of France and Spain, rode Master 
 of the Channel for a considerable time; and 
 the total want of Enterprize, or of Informa- 
 tion on their part, alone saved the Town, as 
 well as the Dock-yards at Plymouth, from 
 falling into the enemy's possession. Not only 
 was the place in want of many indispens- 
 able Articles requisite to repel an Attack : 
 even flints for supplying the Muskets, how- 
 ever incredible the fact may appear, were 
 deficient. Sir Charles Hardy, who com- 
 manded our Fleet ; inferior in number of 
 Ships, and unapprized of the Enemy's ap- 
 proach to the Coast of England, remained 
 quietly cruizing in the Atlantic, while they 
 thus menaced our Shores. Happily, the de- 
 fect of Intelligence, or want of mutual Con- 
 fidence, in the combined Squadrons, sup- 
 plied every Ministerial neglect; and extri- 
 cated the Country from a Calamity, which, 
 had it taken place, must have shaken not 
 only the Administration, but would have 
 convulsed the Throne itself. Faction did 
 not however less pervade the Navy, where 
 the respective Adherents of Keppel and of 
 Palliser, carried their reciprocal rancour to
 
 320 HISTORICAL 
 
 the utmost height. The American War, after 
 four unsuccessful Campaigns, began to grow 
 odious to the Nation : while the Administra- 
 tion, depressed under the weight of a Con- 
 test, to which the Talents of the great Earl 
 of Chatham might have been found unequal, 
 did not manifest or exert the Energy demand- 
 ed by the nature of the Emergency. Even 
 the King, notwithstanding a Display of pri- 
 vate Virtues, which since Charles the First 
 had not been exhibited by any Sovereign of 
 Great Britain, not even by William the Third, 
 yet fully participated in the unpopularity of 
 his Ministers. As he was supposed to feel a 
 more than common interest in effecting the 
 reduction of his revolted Subjects, so he was 
 believed to exert a more than ordinary per- 
 sonal influence over the Cabinet which di- 
 rected the Operations of the War. 
 
 After the return of Lord Howe in 1778, 
 from his unsuccessful Campaigns in Ameri- 
 ca, the supreme naval Command on that 
 Coast, as well as in the West Indies, de- 
 volved on Admiral Byron. He was a Brother 
 of Lord Byron, whose fatal Duel with Mr. 
 Chaworth rendered him unfortunately too 
 conspicuous in the Journals of the House of
 
 MEMOIRS. 321 
 
 jPeers. At an early period of his life, having 
 been wrecked on the desart Coast of Pata- 
 gonia, not far from Cape Horn, with Captain 
 Cheap, in the "Wager" Frigate, he there 
 endured those inconceivable hardships, of 
 which he has left us an interesting Narrative. 
 An intrepid and skilful, no less than an ex- 
 perienced naval Officer, he was nevertheless 
 deficient in the Judgment, Promptitude, and 
 decision of Character, requisite for conduct- 
 ing the Operations of a numerous Fleet. On 
 the element of the Water, an evil destiny 
 seemed invariably to accompany him, from 
 his first Expedition under Commodore An- 
 son, down to the close of his professional 
 life. So well was this fact known in the 
 Navy, that the Sailors bestowed on him the 
 name of " Foul Weather Jack," and esteem- 
 ed themselves certain of stormy Weather, 
 whenever they sailed under his Command. 
 From the time of his leaving England in 
 1778, till his return about two years after- 
 wards, all the Tempests of the deep seemed 
 to have conspired against him. No Man 
 could less say of Himself, with ./Eolus, or 
 rather with Holstenius, 
 
 " Yentorumque facis Tempestatumque potentem ;" 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 HISTORICAL 
 
 Virgil having written the line, 
 
 " Nimborumque facis Tempestatumque potentem." 
 
 During the Action which Byron fought 
 with D'Estaign, in July, 1779, off Grenada, 
 all the characteristic valour of the British 
 was displayed, not only by the Crews, but, 
 by the Captains and their Commander. Yet 
 the Honors of the day were divided, while 
 the Advantages of it were reaped by France ; 
 though the slaughter of Men on the side of 
 the French, prodigiously exceeded our loss. 
 But, the West India Islands, one after ano- 
 ther, fell into the Enemy's hands ; and after 
 the Surrender of Grenada, when D'Estaign 
 quitted Martinico, to carry the Arms of Louis 
 the Sixteenth against Savannah, the Capital 
 of Georgia, he triumphantly swept the Coast 
 of America. We must reluctantly confess, 
 that the Navy of England at this period of 
 the present Reign, had sunk to a point of 
 Depression hardly conceivable, when com- 
 pared with the Times of Hawke, Saunders, 
 and Boscawen; or if placed near the still 
 more splendid period of Jervis, Duncan, and 
 Nelson. We may incline to attribute so 
 extraordinary a Contrast, to the errors or in- 
 ability of Lord North's Administration : the
 
 MEMOIRS. 323* 
 
 popular voice, I well know, sanctioned that 
 accusation: but, its Cause lay principally in 
 the nature of the Contest, which depressing 
 the national Energy, and dividing the public 
 Opinion, unnerved the British Spirit, and 
 allowed France, during near four years, from 
 1778 to 1782, aided by Spain, to make such 
 Exertions, as acquired them a temporary As- 
 cendant on the Ocean. Byron, recalled from 
 his Command, soon afterwards revisited Eng- 
 land, and his Name occurs no more in our 
 naval History : but, it has derived new Cele- 
 brity in the present Times, from the poetic 
 Eminence to which his Grandson has attain- 
 ed, by Productions emulating, perhaps sur- 
 passing, the fame of Spenser, of Gray, of 
 Mason, and of Scott. 
 
 To Byron, succeeded Rodney, who fills 
 so distinguished a place during the unfortu- 
 nate Period of the American War: a naval 
 Commander as much distinguished by the 
 prosperous Fatality which attended him, as 
 Byron seemed to be under the influence of 
 an unlucky Planet. Cardinal Mazarin, who, 
 before he employed any Individual, always 
 asked, " Est-il heureux ?" had he been First 
 Minister of England, might have selected
 
 324 HISTORICAL 
 
 Rodney for active Service, upon that prh> 
 ciple, from among all the Admirals in the 
 Navy. His Person was more elegant than 
 seemed to become his rough Profession. 
 There was even something that approached 
 to delicacy and effeminacy in his figure : but 
 no man manifested a more temperate and 
 steady Courage in Action. I had the honor 
 to live in great personal Intimacy with him, 
 and have often heard him declare, that su- 
 periority to Fear was not in him the physical 
 effect of Constitution ; on the contrary, no 
 man being more sensible by Nature to that 
 Passion, than himself: but, that he surmount- 
 ed it from the Considerations of Honor and 
 public Duty. Like the famous Marshal Vil- 
 lars, he justly incurred the reputation of being 
 " glorieux et bavard ;" making himself fre- 
 quently the theme of his own Discourse. He 
 talked much and freely upon every Subject ; 
 concealed nothing in the course of Conversa- 
 tion, regardless who were present ; and dealt 
 his censures, as well as his praises, with im- 
 prudent liberality ; qualities which neces- 
 sarily procured him many Enemies, particu- 
 larly in his own Profession. Throughout his 
 whole life, two Passions, both highly injuri- 
 ous to his repose, the Love of Women and
 
 MEMOIRS. 325 
 
 of Play, carried him into many Excesses. It 
 was universally believed that he had been 
 distinguished in his youth, by the personal At- 
 tachment of the Princess Amelia, Daughter 
 of George the Second, who displayed the 
 same partiality for Rodney, which her Cousin, 
 the Princess Amelia of Prussia, manifested 
 for Trenck. A living evidence of the former 
 Connexion existed, unless Fame had recourse 
 to Fiction for support. But, Detraction, in 
 every Age, from Elizabeth down to the pre- 
 sent Times, has not spared the most illustri- 
 ous Females, 
 
 The Gaming Table had proved more ru- 
 inous in its effects to Rodney, and that 
 Indulgence compelled him, after quitting 
 England, to take refuge at Paris. So great 
 was his pecuniary Distress while he resided 
 in the French Capital, as to induce him to 
 send over his second Wife to London, early 
 in 1777, with the view of procuring a Sub- 
 scription to be opened among the Members 
 of the Club at White's, for his relief. Lady 
 Rodney finding it however impracticable to 
 raise any Supplies from that source ; after 
 much ineffectual Solicitation among Sir 
 George's former friends^ finally renounced
 
 320 HISTORICAL 
 
 the Attempt. The old Marshal de Biron 
 having soon afterwards, by an act of libe- 
 rality, enabled Rodney to revisit his Coun- 
 try, he made the strongest Applications to 
 the Admiralty, for Employment. His pri- 
 vate Circumstances, indeed, imperiously de- 
 manded every exertion, when he was named, 
 towards the Autumn of 1779, to command 
 the Expedition then fitting out at Ports- 
 mouth, for the West Indies. I passed much 
 time with him, at his residence in Cleveland 
 Row, St. James's, down to the very Moment 
 of his Departure. Naturally sanguine and 
 confident, he anticipated in his daily Conver- 
 sation, with a sort of certainty, the future 
 Success which he should obtain over the 
 Enemy ; and he had not only already con- 
 ceived, but he had delineated on paper, the 
 naval Manoeuvre of breaking, or intersecting 
 the Line, to which he afterwards was in- 
 debted in an eminent degree, for his brilliant 
 Victory over DeGrasse: a Manoeuvre then 
 new in maritime Tactics, though now be- 
 come familiar to us; and which Nelson 
 practised with such decisive Effect, in the 
 Battle of the Nile, as well as on other Occa- 
 sions. Rodney possessed no superior intel- 
 lectual parts; but, unlike Keppel, his enter-
 
 MEMOIRS. 327 
 
 prizing Spirit always impelled him rather to 
 risk, than to act with Caution, wfyen in pre- 
 sence of an Enemy. The ardor of his Cha- 
 racter supplied in some degree, the physical 
 defects of his Health and Constitution, al- 
 ready impaired by various causes : while his 
 happy Audacity, directed by the nautical 
 Skill of others, controled by Science, and 
 propelled by favorable Circumstances, at 
 length enabled him to dissipate the Gloom 
 that had so long overhung our naval Annals, 
 at the same time that he covered himself 
 with great personal Glory. 
 
 The Ministry sustained about this time, a 
 diminution of strength, and a loss of talents, 
 in the House of Peers, which an Administra- 
 tion so unpopular could ill afford, by the 
 defection of Lord Lyttelton, who suddenly 
 went over to the side of Opposition. His 
 Decease not less sudden in its nature, took 
 place immediately afterwards. He was a 
 man of very considerable parliamentary Abi- 
 lities, who, notwithstanding the many glaring 
 vices of his private Character, might have 
 made a conspicuous political figure, if he 
 had not been carried off in the prime of life. 
 His Father, the first Lord Lyttelton, well
 
 328 HISTORICAL 
 
 known as an Historian and a Poet ; derived 
 not less respect in his private Capacity, from 
 the Elevation of his Mind, and his many do- 
 mestic Virtues. The second Lord Lyttelton, 
 by the profligacy of his Conduct, and the 
 abuse of his Talents, seemed to emulate Dry- 
 den's Duke of Buckingham, or Pope's Duke 
 of Wharton ; both of whom he resembled in 
 the superiority of his natural Endowments, 
 as well as in the peculiarity of his End. 
 Villiers, the " Zimri" of Dry den's Poem of 
 "Absalom and Achitophel;" after exhausting 
 his health, and squandering his immense for- 
 tune in every species of Excess or Riot, ex-r 
 pired, as is well known, at a wretched Tene- 
 ment, on his own Estate near Helmsley in 
 Yorkshire, abandoned by all his former 
 Followers or Admirers. Wharton, who acted 
 a part under George the First, hardly less 
 distinguished or eccentric, than Villiers had 
 performed under Charles the Second ; pre- 
 maturely terminated his equally extraordi- 
 nary Career, exiled and attainted, among the 
 Pyrenees, in an obscure Monastery of Cata- 
 lonia ; worn out, like Wilmot, Earl of 
 Rochester, by his pursuit of Pleasures. Lyt- 
 telton, when scarcely thirty-six, breathed his 
 last at a country House near Epsom, called
 
 MEMOIRS. 329 
 
 Pit Place, from its Situation in a Chalk-pit ; 
 where he witnessed, as he conceived, a su- 
 pernatural Appearance. 
 
 Having gone down there for purposes of 
 recreation, with a gay party of both Sexes, 
 several Individuals among whom I person- 
 ally knew ; he had retired to Bed, when a 
 noise which resembled the fluttering of a 
 Dove or Pigeon, heard at his Chamber win- 
 dow, attracted his Attention. He then saw, 
 or thought he saw, a female figure, which 
 approaching the foot of the Bed, announced 
 to him that in three Days precisely from that 
 time, he should be called away from this 
 state of Existence. In whatever manner the 
 supposed Intimation was conveyed, whether 
 by sound or by impression, it is certain that 
 Lord Lyttelton considered the Circumstance 
 as real; that he mentioned it as such, to 
 those persons who were in the House with 
 him ; that it deeply affected his Mind, and 
 that he died on the third Nighty at the pre- 
 dicted Hour. About four years afterwards, 
 in the year 1783, dining at Pit Place, I had 
 the Curiosity to visit the Bed-chamber, where 
 the Casement window, at which, as Lord 
 Lyttelton asserted, the Dove appeared to
 
 330 HISTORICAL 
 
 flutter, was pointed out to me. And at his 
 Step-mother's, the Dowager Lady Lyttel- 
 ton's House in Portugal-Street, Grosvenor 
 Square, who being a woman of very lively 
 Imagination, lent an implicit faith to all the 
 supernatural facts, which were supposed to 
 have accompanied or produced Lord Lyttel- 
 ton's End; I have frequently seen a Painting, 
 which she herself executed in 1780, intended 
 expressly to commemorate the Event. It 
 hung in a conspicuous part of her Drawing- 
 room. There, the Dove appears at the Win- 
 dow ; while a female figure, habited in white, 
 stands at the Bed foot, announcing to 
 Lord Lyttelton his approaching Dissolution. 
 Every part of the Picture was faithfully de- 
 signed after the Description given her by the 
 Valet de Chambre who attended him, to 
 whom his Master related all the Circum- 
 stances. This man assured Lady Lyttelton, 
 that on the Night indicated, Lord Lyttelton> 
 who, notwithstanding his endeavours to sur- 
 mount the Impression, had suffered under 
 great depression of spirits during the three 
 preceding Days, retired to Bed before twelve 
 o'Clock. Having ordered the Valet to mix 
 him some Rhubarb, he sat up in the Bed, 
 apparently in Health, intending to swallow
 
 MEMOIRS. 331 
 
 the Medicine ; but, being in want of a Tea- 
 spoon, which the Servant had neglected to 
 bring, his Master, with a strong expression 
 of Impatience, sent him for a Spoon. He 
 was not absent from the room more than 
 the space of a Minute; but, when he returned, 
 Lord Lyttelton, who had fallen back, lay 
 motionless in that Attitude. No efforts to 
 restore Animation, were attended with Suc- 
 cess. Whether therefore his Death was oc- 
 casioned by any new Attack upon his nerves, 
 or happened in consequence of an Apo- 
 plectic or other Seizure, must remain matter 
 of Uncertainty and Conjecture. 
 
 It is however to be observed, that the Lyt- 
 telton Family, either from constitutional nerv- 
 ous Irritability, or from other Causes, was 
 peculiarly susceptible of Impressions similar 
 to the shock which seems to have produced 
 Lord Lyttel ton's End. His Father, though a 
 man of very distinguished Talents, as well as 
 of high moral Principle, manifested great 
 Credulity, as I have been assured, on the 
 subject of Apparitions: and his Cousin, 
 Miss Lyttelton, who married the present Sir 
 Richard Hoare, died in a way somewhat 
 similar, about four years later, at his beau-
 
 332 HISTORICAL 
 
 tiful Seat of Stourhead in the County of 
 Wilts. The second Lord Lyttel ton's life 
 had likewise been of a nature and descrip- 
 tion so licentious, not to say abandoned, as 
 to subject him continually to the keenest re- 
 proaches of an accusing Conscience. This 
 domestic Spectre, which accompanied him 
 every where, was known to have given rise, 
 while on his Travels, particularly at Lyons, 
 to Scenes greatly resembling his last Mo- 
 ments. Among the Females who had been 
 the objects and the victims of his temporary 
 Attachment, was a Mrs. Dawson, whose for- 
 tune, as well as her honor and reputation, 
 fell a sacrifice to her Passion. Being soon 
 forsaken by him, she did not long survive; 
 and distress of Mind was known to have ac- 
 celerated, if not to have produced, her Death. 
 It was her Image which haunted his pillow, 
 and was supposed by him to have an- 
 nounced his approaching Dissolution, at Pit 
 Place. 
 
 Lord North who had presided during ten 
 years at the head of Administration, conti- 
 nued in the Spring of 1780, to struggle with 
 the utmost Difficulty through the Sixth Ses- 
 sion of Parliament, against a numerous and
 
 MEMOIRS. 333 
 
 augmenting Opposition in both Houses. His 
 Resignation, anxiously anticipated by his po- 
 litical Enemies, seemed to be inevitable, and 
 even imminent: but, the ministerial Disgraces, 
 as well as the Triumphs of the adverse Party, 
 were equally obliterated in a Calamity, 
 which for the time of its duration, absorbed 
 all Attention. I mean, the Riots of June, 
 1780. No Event commemorated in our An- 
 nals, bears any Analogy with the Scene then 
 exhibited in the Capital, except the Fire of 
 London under Charles the Second. Even 
 that Misfortune wanted some of the melan- 
 choly and sanguinary Features, which cha- 
 racterized the Tumults in question. During 
 the Conflagration of 1666, whatever Stories 
 may have been invented by party rage, or 
 inscribed at the Time on public Monuments 
 by religious Antipathy, the Inhabitants had 
 only to contend with the progress of a de- 
 vouring Element. In 1780, the flames were 
 originally kindled, as well as rendered far 
 more destructive, by a Populace of the lowest 
 and vilest description, who carried with 
 them, wherever they moved, the materials of 
 universal Ruin. It was only in their Blood, 
 by the interposition of an overwhelming 
 military Force, that the Convulsion became
 
 334 HISTORICAL 
 
 finally arrested; and that London, after being 
 desolated by fire, was rescued from Plun- 
 der, Bankruptcy, and Subversion. Even 
 the French Revolution, which from July, 
 1789, down to April, 1814, either under the 
 forms of a Republic, or of a military Des- 
 potism, has presented to Mankind a pattern 
 of every Crime revolting and degrading to 
 human Nature ; yet did not produce in the 
 Capital of France, any similar Outrages. At 
 Lyons, it must be admitted that Collot 
 d'Herbois in 1793, exercised the most sa- 
 vage vengeance on the Buildings of the City, 
 as well as on the unfortunate Inhabitants. 
 But, neither Robespierre, nor Bonaparte, 
 though the former Ruffian converted the Me- 
 tropolis into a Charnel-house; and though 
 the Vengeance, or atrocious Ambition of the 
 latter Adventurer, has covered Europe with 
 human Bones, from the Tagus to the Mos- 
 kwa ; yet ever directed their destructive Ef- 
 forts against the public and private Edifices 
 of Paris. 
 
 I was personally present at many of the 
 most tremendous effects of the popular fury, 
 on the memorable 7th of June, the Night on 
 which it attained its highest point. About
 
 MEMOIRS. 335 
 
 nine o'Clock on that Evening, accompanied 
 by three other Gentlemen, who, as well 
 as myself, were alarmed at the accounts 
 brought in every Moment, of the Outrages 
 committed ; and of the still greater acts of 
 Violence meditated, as soon as Darkness 
 should favor and facilitate their further pro- 
 gress ; we set out from Portland-place, in 
 order to view the Scene. Having got into a 
 Hackney-coach, we drove first to Blooms- 
 bury-square ; attracted to that Spot by a 
 Rumor generally spread, that Lord Mans- 
 field's residence, situate at the North-east 
 Corner, was either already burnt, or destined 
 for destruction. Hart Street and Great 
 Russel-Street presented, each, to the view, 
 as we passed, large Fires composed of Furni- 
 ture taken from the Houses of Magistrates, 
 or other obnoxious Individuals. Quitting 
 the Coach, we crossed the Square, and had 
 scarcely got under the wall of. Bedford 
 House, when we heard the Door of Lord 
 Mansfield's House burst open with violence. 
 In a few Minutes, all the contents of the 
 Apartments being precipitated from the Win- 
 dows, were piled up, and wrapt in flames. 
 A file of foot-Soldiers arriving, drew up near 
 the blazing pile ; but, without either attempt-
 
 336 HISTORICAL 
 
 ing to quench the fire, or to impede the 
 who were indeed far too numerous to admit 
 of being dispersed, or even intimidated, by a 
 small Detachment of Infantry. The Popu- 
 lace remained masters ; while we, after sur- 
 veying the Spectacle for a short time, moved 
 on into Holborn, where Mr. Langdale's 
 dwelling House and Warehouses afforded a 
 more appalling picture of Devastation. They 
 were altogether enveloped in Smoke and 
 Flame. In front had assembled an immense 
 multitude of both Sexes, many of whom 
 were Females, and not a few held infants in 
 their arms. All appeared to be, like our- 
 selves, attracted as Spectators solely by 
 Curiosity, without taking any part in the 
 acts of violence. Spirituous Liquors in 
 great Quantity ran down the kennel of the 
 Street, and numbers of the populace were 
 already intoxicated with this Beverage. So 
 little Disposition, however, did they manifest 
 to riot or pillage, that it would have been 
 difficult to conceive who were the Authors 
 and Perpetrators of such enormous Mischief, 
 if we had not distinctly seen at the Windows 
 of the House, Men, who while the floors and 
 rooms were on fire, calmly tore down the 
 furniture, and threw it into the Street, or
 
 MEMOIRS. 337 
 
 tossed it into the flames. They experienced 
 no kind of Opposition, during a considerable 
 time that we remained at this place : but, a 
 party of the Horse Guards arriving, the ter- 
 rified Crowd instantly began to disperse ; 
 and we, anxious to gratify our farther Cu- 
 riosity, continued our progress on foot, along 
 Holborn, towards Fleet-Market. 
 
 I would in vain attempt adequately to de- 
 scribe the Spectacle which presented itself, 
 when we reached the declivity of the Hill, 
 close to St. Andrew's Church. The other 
 House and Magazines of Mr. Langdale, 
 ^vho, as a Catholic, had been selected for 
 the blind vengeance of the Mob ; situated 
 in the hollow space near the North end of 
 Fleet-Market, threw up into the Air a pinna- 
 cle of flame resembling a Volcano. Such 
 was the beautiful and brilliant effect of the 
 Illumination, that St. Andrew's Church ap- 
 peared to be almost scorched by the heat of 
 so prodigious a body of Fire; and the figures 
 designated on the Clock, were as distinctly 
 perceptible as at noon-day. It resembled 
 indeed a Tower, rather than a private Build- 
 ing, in a state of Conflagration ; and would 
 have inspired the Beholder with a Sentiment 
 
 VOL. i. z
 
 338 HISTORICAL 
 
 of admiration allied to pleasure, if it had 
 been possible to separate the object, from 
 its causes and its consequences. The Wind 
 did not however augment its rage on this 
 Occasion ; for the Night was serene, and the 
 Sky unclouded, except when it became 
 obscured by the volumes of Smoke, which, 
 from time to time produced a temporary 
 Darkness. The Mob, which completely 
 blocked up the whole Street in every part, 
 and in all directions, prevented our ap- 
 proaching within fifty or sixty yards of 
 the Building ; but, the Populace, though still 
 principally composed of persons allured by 
 Curiosity, yet evidently began here to assume 
 a more disorderly and ferocious Character. 
 Troops, either horse or foot, we still saw 
 none; nor, in the midst of this Combination 
 of tumult, terror, and violence, had the ordi- 
 nary Police ceased to continue its functions. 
 While we stood by the wall of St. Andrew's 
 Church-yard, a Watchman, with his lanthorn 
 in his hand, passed us, calling the Hour, as 
 if in a time of profound Tranquillity. 
 
 Finding it altogether impracticable to 
 force our way any further down Holborn- 
 Hill, and hearing that the Fleet Prison had
 
 MEMOIRS. 339 
 
 been set on fire ; we penetrated through a 
 number of narrow lanes, behind St. Andrew's 
 Church, and presently found ourselves in 
 the middle of Fleet-Market. Here, the same 
 Destruction raged, but in a different stage 
 of its progress. Mr. Langdale's two Houses 
 were already at the height of their demo- 
 lition : the Fleet Prison on the contrary was 
 only beginning to blaze, and the Sparks or 
 flaming particles that filled the Air, fell so 
 thick upon us on every side, as to render 
 unsafe its immediate vicinity. Meanwhile 
 we began to hear the Platoons discharged 
 on the other side of the River, towards St. 
 George's Fields ; and were informed, that a 
 considerable number of the Rioters had 
 been killed on Black-friars Bridge, which 
 was occupied by the Troops. On approach- 
 ing it, we beheld the King's Bench Prison 
 completely enveloped in flames. It exhi- 
 bited a sublime Sight, and we might be said 
 there to stand in a central point, from 
 whence London offered on every side, be- 
 fore, as well as behind us, the picture of a 
 City sacked and abandoned to a ferocious 
 Enemy. The Shouts of the populace, the 
 Cries of women, the crackling of the fires, 
 the Blaze reflected in the Stream of the 
 
 z2
 
 340 HISTORICAL 
 
 Thames, and the irregular firing which was 
 kept up both in St. George's Fields, as 
 well as towards the Quarter of the Mansion- 
 House, and the Bank ; all these Sounds 
 or Images combined, left scarcely any thing 
 for the Imagination to supply ; presenting to 
 the view every recollection, which the classic 
 Descriptions of Troy or of Rome, in the 
 Page of Virgil, or of Tacitus, have impressed 
 on the mind in youth, but which I so little 
 expected to see exemplified in the Capital 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 Not yet satisfied, and hearing that an ob- 
 stinate Conflict was going on at the Bank, 
 between the Soldiery and the Rioters, we 
 determined, if possible, to reach that Spot. 
 We accordingly proceeded through St. 
 Paul's Church-yard towards it, and had 
 advanced without impediment to the Poul- 
 try, within about sixty paces of the Man- 
 sion House, when our progress was stopped 
 by a Centinel, who acquainted us that the 
 Mob had been repulsed in their attempt 
 upon the Bank ; but, that we could pene- 
 trate no further in that direction, as his 
 Orders were peremptory, not to suffer the 
 passage of any person. Cheapside, silent
 
 MEMOIRS. 341 
 
 and empty, unlike the Streets that we had 
 visited, presented neither the appearance of 
 Tumult, nor of Confusion ; though to the 
 East, West, and South, all was Disorder. 
 This Contrast formed not the least striking 
 Circumstance of the Moment. Prevented 
 thus from approaching any nearer to the 
 Bank, finding the Day begin to break, sati- 
 ated in some measure with the Scenes which 
 we had witnessed, and wearied by so long a 
 peregrination, which, from our first alighting 
 near Bloomsbury Square, had all been per- 
 formed on foot ; we resolved to return to the 
 west end of the Town. On Ludgate Hill 
 we were fortunate enough to meet with a 
 Hackney Coach, which conveyed us safely 
 back, about four o'Clock in the Morning. 
 
 It is impossible for the most prejudiced 
 person, without violating truth, to accuse 
 the Opposition of having had any participa- 
 tion as a Body, direct or indirect, in these 
 Outrages. They were indeed, themselves, 
 individually, the objects of popular prejudice 
 and violence, not less than the Ministers ; 
 Sir George Savile's House in Leicester 
 Square, having been one of the first Build- 
 ings assailed and plundered by the Mob.
 
 342 HISTORICAL 
 
 Devonshire House in Piccadilly, menaced 
 with the same fate, was considered as so 
 insecure, that the Duchess of Devonshire 
 yielding to her fears, did not venture to re- 
 main in it after dusk, for a considerable time. 
 She took refuge at Lord Clermont's in 
 Berkeley Square, where she deemed herself 
 safe from Attack ; and lay down for succes- 
 sive Nights, on a Sofa, or a small tent Bed, 
 placed in the Drawing-room. Many other 
 persons of both Sexes, of the highest rank, 
 either quitted their own Dwellings, or sent 
 their most valuable Effects and Jewels into 
 the Country. The first Minister, Lord 
 North, passed that alarming Night, at his 
 official Residence in Downing Street; ac- 
 companied by a few Friends, who had re- 
 paired thither to offer him their personal 
 Aid, if Circumstances should render it neces- 
 sary for his protection. 
 
 One of those Gentlemen, Sir John Mac- 
 pherson, has often recounted to me the Par- 
 ticulars of that memorable Evening, which 
 I shall give in his own words, and which 
 will be perused with no common Interest. 
 " A Day or two before the 7th of June," 
 said he, " Count M^ltzahn, the Prussian
 
 MEMOIRS. 343 
 
 " Minister at our Court, called on me at 
 " Kensington Gore, where 1 then resided, 
 " and informed me that the Mob had de- 
 " termined to attack the Bank. He added, 
 " that the fact had come to his knowledg-e 
 
 o 
 
 " through an authentic Channel, on the Ac- 
 " curacy of which I might depend. Having 
 " conveyed this Intelligence immediately to 
 " Lord North, I received on the Morning of 
 " that Day, an intimation to be at his House 
 " in Downing Street at Dinner. When I 
 " got there, I found Mr. Eden, (since cre- 
 " ated Lord Auckland,) the Honorable 
 " General Simon Fraser, the Honorable 
 " John St. John, and Colonel North, after- 
 " wards Earl of Guilford. Mr. Brummell, 
 " Lord North's private Secretary, who lived 
 " likewise in the same Street, was in At- 
 " tendance, but did not make one of the 
 " Company. We sat down at Table, and 
 " Dinner had scarcely been removed, when 
 " Downing Square, through which there is 
 " no Outlet, became thronged with people, 
 " who manifested a Disposition, or rather 
 " a Determination, to proceed to Acts of 
 " Outrage. Lord North, with his habitual 
 " good humor, observed to me, ' You see, 
 " Macpherson, here is much Confusion.
 
 344 HISTORICAL 
 
 " Who commands the upper Tier?' * I 
 " do,' answered Colonel North, ' and I 
 " have got twenty or more Grenadiers well 
 " armed, stationed above stairs, who are 
 " ready on the first Order, to fire upon 
 " the Mob.' General Fraser sat silent ; 
 " while Mr. Eden, whose House was situ- 
 " ated on the opposite side of the Square, 
 " only remarked calmly to Colonel North, 
 " that if the Grenadiers fired, their shot 
 " would probably enter his Windows. The 
 " Tumult without Doors still continuing, 
 " and it being uncertain from one Minute 
 " to another, whether the populace might 
 " not proceed to Extremities ; Lord North 
 " said to me, ' What is to be done, Mac- 
 " pherson ?' ' My Opinion,' answered I, ' is 
 " to send out two or three persons, who 
 " mixing among the Crowd, may acquaint 
 " them that there are Troops posted in the 
 " House, ready, without waiting for the Riot 
 " Act being read, to fire on them, the instant 
 " that they commit any Outrage ; exhorting 
 " them at the same time, for their own 
 " sakes, to disperse peaceably without 
 " Delay. But,' added I, ' Nous parlous de 
 " la Guerre devant Annibal. Here sits 
 " General Fraser, who knows far better
 
 MEMOIRS. 345 
 
 " than any of us, what is wisest to be done, 
 " and who has not yet opened his Mouth.' 
 " The Populace continued to fill the little 
 " Square, and became very noisy ; but, they 
 " never attempted to force the street Door. 
 " Mr. St. John held a Pistol in his Hand ; 
 " and Lord North, who never lost an occa- 
 " sion of jesting, exclaimed, * I am not 
 " half so much afraid of the Mob, as of 
 " Jack St. John's Pistol.' By degrees, as 
 " the Evening advanced, the People, in- 
 " formed, from various Quarters, that there 
 " were Soldiers posted in the House, pre- 
 " pared to fire if they committed any vio- 
 " lence ; began to cool, and afterwards gra- 
 " dually to disperse without further Effort. 
 " We then sat down again quietly at the 
 " Table, and finished our Wine. 
 
 " Night coming on, and the Capital pre- 
 *' senting a scene of Tumult or Conflagration 
 " in many various Quarters, Lord North, 
 " accompanied by us all, mounted to the 
 " top of the House, where we beheld Lon- 
 " don blazing in seven places, and could 
 " hear the Platoons regularly firing in vari- 
 " ous Directions. ' What is your opinion 
 " of the remedy for this Evil?' said Lord
 
 346 HISTORICAL 
 
 " North to me. ' I should try, my Lord,' 
 " answered I, ' to effect a Junction, or to 
 " open some Communication, with the Heads 
 " of Opposition, for the protection of the 
 " Country.' ' You talk,' replied he, * as 
 " if the thing could be done ; but, it is not 
 " practicable.' I know however that a Day 
 " or two afterwards, notwithstanding the 
 " Opinion so given by Lord North, he and 
 " Mr. Fox personally met ; the former ac- 
 " companied by Brummell, and the latter 
 " by Sheridan, behind the Scenes at the 
 " Opera House in the Haymarket, at Eleven 
 " in the forenoon. They held a Conference 
 " there ; but, of the nature of the Conversa- 
 " tion which passed between them, I am 
 " wholly ignorant." Such was Sir John 
 Macpherson's account of the Circumstances 
 to which he was an eye-witness, at that 
 Moment of public Calamity. He now re- 
 mains the only Survivor of the Company 
 that was convened in Downing Street, since 
 the Decease of Lord Auckland. 
 
 Lord George Germain, like the first Mi- 
 nister, having assembled some Friends for 
 the Purpose, barricaded the passages and 
 entrance to his House in Pall Mall, which
 
 MEMOIRS. 347 
 
 was very susceptible of Defence ; after which, 
 he coolly waited for the Attack of the popu- 
 lace. But, the Rioters were too well in- 
 formed of the precautions taken, to venture 
 making any attempt on him. Even the King 
 himself remained on foot, during the far 
 greater part of that memorable Night, which 
 he passed between Buckingham House and 
 the Royal Manege contiguous ; into the lat- 
 ter of which Buildings, a Detachment of 
 the Horse Guards had been early admitted, 
 who were ready to have sallied out upon the 
 Insurgents. No Man who knows the steadi- 
 ness and firmness which His Majesty has 
 since displayed in the most trying Situations, 
 when his person has been exposed to Dan- 
 ger ; can doubt that he would have given on 
 that Occasion, had it been unfortunately ne- 
 cessary, the strongest proofs of Courage. He 
 would not have acted the tame and irreso- 
 lute part which Louis the Sixteenth exhi- 
 bited on the 10th of August, 1792; when, 
 under similar Circumstances, surrounded by 
 a savage Jacobin Mob, instead of defending 
 himself to the last Extremity, as he was 
 bound to have done not only by every Prin- 
 ciple of Self-preservation, but from Regard 
 to the Interests of the French Monarchy;
 
 348 HISTORICAL 
 
 he abandoned the defence of his Palace, and 
 of his Family, to take refuge in the National 
 Assembly. George the Third had embraced 
 the resolution of repelling force by force, in 
 case of necessity, and of perishing in support 
 of the Laws, of civil Order, and regular Go- 
 vernment, rather than survive their Extinc- 
 tion. But, happily, no Attempt was made 
 by the Populace, to attack any part of the 
 Queen's House or Offices. 
 
 Various were the Opinions and Assertions 
 hazarded, relative to the numbers that pe- 
 rished in the Riots, between the third and 
 the seventh of June, 1780: but, as no certain 
 Data can be obtained, beyond the official re- 
 turns of killed and wounded, the amount 
 must always remain matter of Conjecture. 
 Probably, it far exceeded the Computation 
 commonly made ; and from the concurring 
 Testimony of those persons who were most 
 competent to form a sound Judgment, I be- 
 lieve it would not be over-rated at seven 
 hundred Individuals, killed and wounded. 
 The Slaughter was most considerable at the 
 King's Bench, at the Bank, and on Black- 
 friars Bridge. Colonel de Burgh, a Son 
 of the Earl of Clanrickard, commanded one
 
 MEMOIRS. 349 
 
 of the Regiments sent to St. George's Fields. 
 All the Troops did their duty, notwithstand- 
 ing the efforts which the Populace exerted 
 to seduce them, by calling on them as Pro- 
 testants, and invoking their aid or their pro- 
 tection. Many of the Soldiers, in reply to 
 these Blandishments, exclaimed, that they 
 would not hurt the Mob. A great Noble- 
 man, now alive, who, like myself, was a 
 Spectator of all .the scenes of Devastation 
 committed on that Night ; told me that he 
 felt strong Doubts whether De Burgh's Re- 
 giment would actually draw the Trigger. 
 Impressed with that Conviction, he mention- 
 ed his Apprehensions on the point, to the 
 Colonel; who instantly replied, that he knew 
 his Men, and could rely on their prompt 
 Obedience. The Event justified his Confi- 
 dence : for, no sooner had he given the word 
 of command to fire, than, levelling their 
 Pieces, they soon compelled the Rioters to 
 seek their safety in immediate Dispersion. If 
 the " Gardes Francaises" in 1789, had be- 
 haved like our regular Troops in 1780, the 
 French Revolution might have been sup- 
 pressed in its Birth ; and Europe would not 
 have groaned during fourteen years, under 
 the accumulated Calamities inflicted on it by
 
 350 HISTORICAL 
 
 Bonaparte. But, the difference of Character 
 between the two Sovereigns of Great Britain 
 and of France, constituted one great cause 
 of the different Fate that attended the two 
 Monarchies. George the Third, when at- 
 tacked, prepared to defend his Throne, hi& 
 Family, his Country, and the Constitution 
 entrusted to his care. They were in fact 
 principally saved by his Decision. Louis 
 the Sixteenth tamely abandoned all to a fe- 
 rocious demoralized Populace, who sent him 
 to the Scaffold. No man of Courage or of 
 Principle, could have quitted the former 
 Prince. It was impossible to save, or to 
 rescue, the latter ill-fated, yielding, and pas- 
 sive Monarch. 
 
 Many of the Rioters, who fell at Black- 
 friars Bridge, or in its Vicinity, where the 
 Slaughter was most considerable, were im- 
 mediately thrown over into the Thames, by 
 their Companions. The Carnage which took 
 place at the Bank likewise was great, though 
 not of very long Duration; and in order to 
 conceal as much as possible, the magnitude 
 of the number, as well as the names of the 
 persons who perished, similar Precautions 
 were taken on both sides. All the dead
 
 MEMOIRS. 351 
 
 Bodies being carried away during the Night, 
 were precipitated into the River. Even the 
 impressions made by the Musket Balls, on 
 the Houses opposite to the Bank, were as 
 much as possible erased on the following 
 Morning, and the Buildings whitewashed. 
 Government and the Rioters seem to have 
 felt an equal Disposition, by drawing a veil 
 over the extent of the Calamity, to bury it in 
 profound Darkness. To Colonel Holroyd, 
 since deservedly raised to the British Peer- 
 age as Lord Sheffield, and to his Regiment 
 of Militia, the Country was eminently in- 
 debted for repelling the fury of the Mob at 
 the Bank; where, during some Moments, 
 the Conflict seemed doubtful, and the Assail- 
 ants had nearly forced an Entrance. Lord 
 Algernon Percy, since created Earl of Bever- 
 ley, marched likewise at the head of the Nor- 
 thumberland Militia, to the same Spot. Their 
 Arrival, together with the energy, prompti- 
 tude, and decision which Colonel Holroyd 
 manifested, principally conduced to ensure 
 the Safety of that great National Establish- 
 ment. Lord Sheffield, by his commercial 
 Disquisitions, and agricultural Pursuits or 
 Productions, has since rendered scarcely 
 less important Services to his Country. Nor
 
 352 HISTORICAL 
 
 ought he to be forgotten in another Capa- 
 city, as the Friend and the Biographer of 
 Gibbon, whose mortal Remains repose un- 
 der his Protection, at Sheffield Place in 
 Sussex. Numbers of the Insurgents con- 
 cealed their Wounds, in order to evade dis- 
 covery of the part which they had taken in 
 the Disorders of the Capital. It is however 
 indisputable, that almost all who perished, 
 were of a low and obscure Description. 
 
 If the Populace had been conducted by 
 Leaders of System or Ability, London must 
 have been fundamentally overturned on that 
 Night. The Bank, the India House, and 
 the Shops of the great Bankers, would in 
 that case have been early attacked ; instead 
 of throwing away their rage, as they did, on 
 Popish Chapels, private Houses, and Pri- 
 sons. When they began, after their first 
 Fury had exhausted itself, to direct their 
 Blows more systematically and skilfully, the 
 time for Action was passed. Government, 
 which was accused, perhaps with reason, of 
 having appeared supine during the first Days 
 of June; awoke early enough to preserve 
 the Metropolis and Public Credit, from sus- 
 taining the last shock of popular Violence.
 
 MEMOIRS. 353 
 
 fa fact, from the Instant that the three 
 Bridges over the Thames were occupied by 
 regular Troops, the danger was at an end. 
 This awful Convulsion, which, on Wednes- 
 day, the seventh of June, seemed to menace 
 the Destruction of every thing ; was so com- 
 pletely quelled, and so suddenly extinguish- 
 ed, that on the eighth, hardly a Spark sur- 
 vived of the popular Effervescence. Some 
 few persons in the Borough of Southwark, 
 attempted to repeat the Outrages of Wednes- 
 day ; but they were easily and immediately 
 quelled by the military force. Never was a 
 Contrast exhibited more striking, than be- 
 tween those two Evenings, in the same City ! 
 The Patroles of Cavalry, stationed in the 
 Squares and great Streets, throughout the 
 West End of the Town, gave London the 
 Aspect of a Garrison : while the Camp which 
 was immediately afterwards formed in St. 
 James's Park, afforded a picturesque land- 
 scape ; both sides of the Canal, from the 
 Queen's House down to the vicinity of the 
 Horse Guards, being covered with Tents and 
 Troops. 
 
 The common Danger, which united all 
 Parties for the time, extinguished, or at least 
 
 VOL. I. 2 A
 
 354 HISTORICAL 
 
 suspended in some measure, even the viru- 
 lence of political Enmity. Alarmed at the 
 prospect of impending Destruction, some of 
 the principal Leaders of the Opposition re- 
 paired, unasked, to St. James's, under pre- 
 tence of offering their Services to the Admi- 
 nistration ; nearly as the Dukes of Somerset 
 and Argyle had done in the last Days of 
 July, 1714, when Queen Anne lay insensi- 
 ble, near her End. The Marquis of Rock- 
 ingham hearing that a Privy Council was 
 summoned to meet on the Morning of the 
 7th of June, which Assembly, all who en- 
 joyed seats at that Board, were invited to 
 attend ; made his appearance in an undress, 
 his Hair disordered, and with testimonies of 
 great Consternation. Nor did he, when seat- 
 ed at the Table, where the King was pre- 
 sent, spare the Ministers, for having, as he 
 asserted, by their negligence, or want of 
 timely energy, allowed the Assemblage of 
 People to take place in St. George's Fields, 
 which original Meeting led to all the subse- 
 quent Outrages. It is nevertheless incontest- 
 able, that to the Decision manifested by His 
 Majesty on that occasion, the Safety of the 
 Metropolis, and its Extrication from all the 
 Calamities that impended over it, was princi-
 
 MEMOIRS. 355 
 
 pally, if not solely to be ascribed. Eliza- 
 beth, or William the Third, could not have 
 displayed more calm and systematic Courage 
 in the highest sense of the term, than George 
 the Third exhibited in so trying a Moment. 
 Far from throwing himself for support or 
 guidance on his Cabinet, as a Prince of 
 feeble Character would have done ; he came 
 forward, and exhibited an example of self- 
 devotion to his Ministers. 
 
 It is well known that at the Council to 
 which I have alluded, the King assisted in 
 person. The great Question was there dis- 
 cussed, on which hinged the protection and 
 preservation of the Capital ; a Question, re- 
 specting which, the first legal Characters were 
 divided ; and on which, Lord Mansfield him- 
 self was with reason accused of never having 
 clearly expressed his Opinion up to that time. 
 Doubts existed, whether Persons riotously 
 collected together, and committing Outrages 
 or Infractions of the Peace, however great, 
 might legally be fired on by the military 
 power, without staying previously to read 
 the Riot Act. Lord Bathurst, President of 
 the Council, and Sir Fletcher Norton, Speak- 
 er of the House of Commons, who were 
 2 A 2
 
 356 HISTORICAL 
 
 both present ; on being appealed to for their 
 Opinion, declared that " a Soldier was not 
 less a Citizen, because he was a Soldier, 
 and consequently that he might repel Force 
 by Force :" but, no Minister would sign the 
 Order for the Purpose. In this Emergency, 
 when every Moment was precious, Mr. 
 Wedderburn, since successively raised to the 
 dignity of a Baron and of an Earl of Great 
 Britain, who was then Attorney-general, 
 having been called in to the Council Table, 
 and ordered by the King to deliver his offi- 
 cial Opinion on the point; stated in the most 
 precise terms, that any such Assemblage 
 might be dispersed by military force, with- 
 out waiting for Forms, or reading the Act in 
 Question. " Is that your Declaration of the 
 Law, as Attorney-general?" said the King. 
 Wedderburn answering decidedly in the af- 
 firmative, " Then so let it be done," rejoined 
 His Majesty. The Attorney-general drew 
 up the Order immediately, which the King 
 signed, and on which Lord Amherst acted, 
 the same Evening. The complete suppres- 
 sion of the Riots followed in the course of a 
 few Hours. Never had any People a greater 
 Obligation to the judicious Intrepidity of 
 their Sovereign ! Jf Louis the Sixteenth
 
 MEMOIRS. 357 
 
 would have acted with similar Decision and 
 Self-Devotion, in the early Stages of the 
 French Revolution, France might have been 
 equally saved. 
 
 Nor ought we to deny the merit due to 
 Wedderburn, for having with so much deci- 
 sion cut the Gordian Knot, which the Lord 
 Chief Justice of the King's Bench, either 
 could not, or would not untie. His inexpli- 
 cit Declarations on the subject, involuntarily 
 remind us of the Accusations levelled against 
 him by " Junius," when, speaking of Lord 
 Mansfield, he says, " Besides his natural 
 " Timidity, it makes part of his political plan, 
 " never to be known to recommend violent 
 " Measures. When the Guards are called 
 " forth to murder their fellow Subjects, it is 
 " not by the ostensible Advice of Lord Mans- 
 " field." Here we see him in 1780, acting 
 precisely as he had done twelve years earlier, 
 in 1768. Nor is it a less curious and ex- 
 traordinary Fact, that the very Exertion by 
 which the King preserved London in June, 
 1780, from suffering the utmost extremities 
 of violence and pillage, constitutes, as a 
 Principle, the subject of " Junius's severest 
 " Reflections upon him, in March, 1770."
 
 358 HISTORICAL 
 
 " Did His Majesty," says he, " consult the 
 " Laws of this Country, when he permitted 
 " his Secretary of State to declare, that 
 " whenever the Civil Magistrate is trifled 
 " with, a military force must be sent for, 
 " without the delay of a Moment, and effec- 
 " tually employed ?" So true is it, that at 
 every period of his life, the King manifested 
 the same consistency of Character, and su- 
 periority to personal Apprehension. When 
 nevertheless we reflect that in 1768, a Ma- 
 gistrate of the County of Surrey, had been 
 capitally accused and brought to trial, for 
 ordering the Soldiery to fire on Rioters en- 
 gaged in the most violent Acts of Outrage in 
 St. George's Fields, though the Riot Act had 
 been twice read ; we cannot be surprized at 
 the Apprehension displayed by Lord Mans- 
 field, to sanction and authorize the same 
 proceeding in 1780, nor ought we lightly to 
 censure his Conduct. The Sovereign alone, 
 as First Magistrate, impelled by the awful 
 nature of the Emergency^ and he only, could 
 have taken upon him so serious a Responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 JNo Individual manifested more Abhorrence 
 of the Rioters, or exposed himself by his
 
 MEMOIRS. 359 
 
 Declarations on that subject, to more per- 
 sonal Danger, than Burke ; whom his Ene- 
 mies accused of having been brought up in 
 the tenets or principles of the Romish Faith. 
 This Conduct did him great honor, and 
 proved him superior to the meanness of 
 Party. His House in the Broad Sanctuary, 
 Westminster, was threatened, but, not at- 
 tacked. Fox contented himself with con- 
 demning the Authors of the Disorders, but 
 took no active part, as a Member of the 
 Legislature, in their Suppression. On the 
 contrary, he refused to lend any personal 
 Support to Government, when pressed in the 
 House of Commons, to co-operate for the 
 Extrication of the Capital ; though Burke, 
 who was there present, loudly expressed his 
 wish for unanimity and association in that 
 Moment of national Distress. It is impossi- 
 ble not to recollect, that as they thus diverg- 
 ed in different lines during the Riots of 
 1780, so in 1792, twelve years later, they 
 exhibited a similar diversity of Conduct ; 
 Burke lending his powerful Aid to prop mo- 
 narchical Government, while Fox remained 
 the Advocate of Republicanism, and the 
 Apologist of the French Revolution. Wilkes, 
 who in the early part of His Majesty's reign,
 
 360 HISTORICAL 
 
 had made so glorious a resistance to General 
 Warrants, displayed as manly a resistance 
 to popular Violence, during the whole pro- 
 gress of the Riots ; and had he filled the 
 chair of Chief Magistrate, instead of Kennett, 
 would unquestionably, by his Vigor, have 
 prevented many or all the disgraceful Scenes 
 which took place in the Capital. 
 
 All the proofs given by Opposition, of 
 their detestation for these calamitous Exhi- 
 bitions of popular fury, did not, however, 
 produce complete Conviction of their Since- 
 rity. Many persons still believed, that some 
 of the Parliamentary Leaders secretly fo- 
 mented, or privately encouraged, the Rioters. 
 Suspicions were in particular thrown on the 
 Earl of Shelburne, probably with great In- 
 justice. The natural expectation of effecting 
 a change in Ministry, was imagined to sus- 
 pend or supersede in certain Minds, every 
 other Consideration ; and it was even pre- 
 tended, though on very insufficient grounds, 
 that Peers did not scruple to take an active 
 part in the worst Excesses of the Night of 
 the seventh of June. Public Clamor select- 
 ed the Earl of Effingham as an Object of 
 Accusation. It was generally asserted, that
 
 MEMOIRS. 361 
 
 he had mingled with the Rioters on Black-fri- 
 ars Bridge ; that he had there been mortally 
 wounded, and his Body afterwards thrown 
 into the River, by those of his own Party ; 
 but, not till he had been identified and re- 
 cognized by his Dress, particularly by his 
 laced Ruffles. Those who were acquainted 
 with that Nobleman, and who knew his style 
 of Dress, instantly detected the absurdity, 
 as well as falsity of the Charge; for, no Man 
 was ever less distinguished by any Ornaments 
 of Apparel. His sudden Disappearance from 
 London, where he certainly had been seen 
 at the Commencement of the Riots ; the ge- 
 neral Ignorance in which people remained, 
 of the place to which he had withdrawn ; 
 when added to his known, as well as violent, 
 dislike to the Administration, and to the 
 American War ; of which He had exhibited 
 a singular Proof, by renouncing his Profes- 
 sion and his Rank in the British Army, only 
 a few Years earlier, rather than submit to 
 serve against the Insurgents beyond the At- 
 lantic ; all these Circumstances conduced, 
 nevertheless, to maintain the Delusion for a 
 considerable time. At the beginning of the 
 ensuing Winter, he re-appeared in the House 
 of Lords, in his usual Health ; and stated to
 
 362 HISTORICAL 
 
 his Acquaintance, that early in June, he had 
 gone down to his seat of Grainge Hall in 
 Yorkshire, where he had ever since resided. 
 Such Persons as still remained incredulous, 
 explained his Absence by saying that he had 
 been hurt or wounded on the seventh of June ; 
 but, it is probable that the report originated 
 altogether in Calumny. 
 
 Lord George Gordon, the primary Author 
 of these Outrages, was not taken into custo- 
 dy, till two or three Days after they had 
 been suppressed. Ministers were reproach- 
 ed with not having committed him to the 
 Tower on the second of June, when he as- 
 sembled, harangued, and excited the Mob 
 to extort compliance with their Demands 
 from the House of Commons. But, the 
 attempt to seize, and to send him to prison, 
 at a time when every Avenue to the House 
 was thronged with Multitudes, when the 
 Lobby overflowed with them, and when the 
 Doors of the House itself might have been, 
 every instant, forced in ; would have formed 
 an imprudent, not to say a dangerous Expe- 
 riment. It is difficult to find any Instance 
 in our Annals, when Parliament received a 
 grosser Insult ; or when the Members com-
 
 MEMOIRS. 363 
 
 posing both Houses, incurred a greater risk 
 of falling victims to popular Violence. The 
 Mobs of 1641, and of the following year, 
 under Charles the First, directed their rage 
 against the Sovereign and his principal Ad- 
 visers, not against the Representatives of the 
 Nation. Cromwell, when in 1653 he drove 
 out and dissolved the Rump Parliament, 
 offered no Outrage to their persons, but 
 simply broke up the legislative Assembly 
 by a military Force. The Tumults in 1733, 
 when Sir Robert Walpole first attempted to 
 introduce the Excise Laws, seem to form 
 the nearest approach or similarity to the Pro- 
 ceedings in 1780; but, longo Intervallo. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that if the Populace 
 had forced their way into the House of Com- 
 mons, Lord George would not have sur- 
 vived to recount the Exploit. Many Members 
 who were there present, justly indignant at 
 his Conduct, threatened him with instant 
 Death, as soon as any of the Rioters should 
 burst open the Doors. The late Earl of 
 Carnarvon, then Mr. Henry Herbert, fol- 
 lowed him close, with that avowed Determi- 
 nation; and General Murray, Uncle to the 
 present Duke of Athol, a Man whom I inti-
 
 364 HISTORICAL 
 
 mately knew, and who, when incensed, was 
 capable of executing the most desperate Re- 
 solution; held his Sword ready to pass it 
 through Lord George's Body, on the first 
 irruption of the Mob. It will always remain 
 disputable, whether Ambition, Fanaticism, 
 or Alienation of Mind, contributed most to 
 the part which he acted, in assembling and 
 inciting the people to acts of Violence. That 
 he was not insensible to the political Consi- 
 deration and Importance which he obtained 
 from his personal influence over so vast a 
 Multitude, cannot be questioned. To reli- 
 gious Enthusiasm or Conviction, something 
 may perhaps be fairly attributed; but, more 
 must be laid to the deranged state of his un- 
 derstanding, though no Circumstance in his 
 Conduct or Deportment, could possibly sub- 
 ject him to be considered as insane. He 
 appears in fact to have been perfectly master 
 of himself, and in possession of all his Facul- 
 ties, during every stage of the Riots : nor is 
 it to be imagined that he either foresaw or 
 intended any of the Outrages which were 
 committed after the second of June. But, 
 he had put in motion a Machine, of which 
 he could not regulate or restrain the Move- 
 ments: and unquestionably, the Mob which
 
 MEMOIRS. 365 
 
 set fire to London, was of a far more savage, 
 as well as atrocious Description, than the 
 original Assemblage of people who met in 
 St. George's Fields. The late Lord Rodney, 
 who was then an Officer in the Guards, told 
 me, that having been sent on the Night of 
 the 7th of June, to the defence of the Bank 
 of England, at the head of a Detachment of 
 his Regiment, he there found Lord George 
 Gordon, who appeared anxiously endeavour- 
 ing by Expostulation, to induce the popu- 
 lace to retire. As soon as Lord George 
 saw Captain Rodney, he strongly expressed 
 his concern at the acts of Violence com- 
 mitted ; adding, that he was ready to take 
 his stand by Captain Rodney's side, and to 
 expose his Person to the utmost risk, in or- 
 der to resist such Proceedings. Rodney, 
 who distrusted however his Sincerity, and 
 justly considered him as the original cause 
 of all the Calamities, declined any Communi- 
 cation with him; only exhorting him, if he 
 wished to stop the further effusion of Blood, 
 and to prevent the destruction of the Bank, 
 to exert himself in dispersing the furious 
 Crowd. But, whatever might be his Inclina- 
 tion, he was altogether destitute of the 
 Power. The military Force alone saved the
 
 366 HISTORICAL 
 
 Bank from being plundered, and prevented 
 the temporary subversion of the national 
 Credit. 
 
 I knew Lord George Gordon well, and I 
 once accompanied him from a party where 
 we met, in Lower Grosvenor Street, at the 
 late Lord Elcho's, to Ranelaugh, in the 
 Summer of 1782, in his own Coach. In his 
 person he was thin, his Features regular, and 
 his Complexion pale. His Manners were 
 gentle, his Conversation agreeable, and he 
 had the appearance, as well as the deport- 
 ment, of a Man of Quality. There was how- 
 ever something in his cast of Countenance 
 and mode of Expression, that indicated Cun- 
 ning, or a perverted Understanding, or both. 
 His whole Income consisted, I believe, in an 
 Annuity of six hundred Pounds a year, paid 
 him by the Duke of Gordon, his Brother. 
 It forms a singular subject of reflection, that 
 after involving London during several suc- 
 cessive Days, in all the horrors of Insurrec- 
 tion and Anarchy, he should have escaped 
 any punishment for these proceedings, which 
 cost the lives of so many Individuals, and 
 the demolition of so many Edifices; while 
 he expiated by a rigorous Imprisonment to
 
 MEMOIRS. 367 
 
 the end of his days, in Newgate, the publi- 
 cation of a Libel on the late unfortunate 
 Queen of France, who, herself, perished on 
 the Scaffold, He exhibited the strongest 
 attestation of the sincerity of his Conversion 
 to Judaism, by submitting to one of the most 
 painful Ceremonies or Acts enjoined by the 
 Mosaic Law. The Operation, which was per- 
 formed at Birmingham, confined him to his 
 Chamber, if not to his Bed, for a considerable 
 time ; and he preserved with great Care, the 
 sanguinary proofs of his having undergone 
 the Amputation. Few Individuals occupy a 
 more conspicuous, or a more unfortunate 
 place in the Annals of their Country, under 
 the reign of George the Third. He will 
 rank in History, with Wat Tyler and Jack 
 Cade, the Incendiaries of the Plantagenet 
 Times ; or with Kett, so memorable under 
 Edward the Sixth. 
 
 The Elements seemed to conspire with all 
 the foreign Enemies of Great Britain, at this 
 Period; the Hurricane of October, 1780, 
 which took place in the West Indies, being- 
 one of the most tremendous in its Nature, as 
 well as violent in its Effects, commemorated 
 in the course of the Eighteenth Century.
 
 368 HISTORICAL 
 
 Though its destructive rage spread Devasta- 
 tion in a greater or a less degree, over the 
 whole Chain of the Carribee Islands, yet Bar- 
 badoes experienced its greatest fury, toge- 
 ther with the severest loss of lives and pro- 
 perty. A friend of mine, General James 
 Cunningham, was then Governor of the Co- 
 lony. He has related to me, that after re- 
 maining above ground as long as it was prac- 
 ticable with Safety, he, accompanied by a 
 number of his Family and Domestics, took re- 
 fuge in a small Cellar, several feet lower than 
 the level of the Street, at Bridge Town, the 
 Capital of the Settlement. Here, indeed, 
 they found themselves secure from the Dan- 
 ger of being crushed under the ruins of the 
 House which they had just quitted, or from 
 being completely borne off and swept away 
 by the force of the Wind. But, they were 
 soon assailed by two new Misfortunes, 
 against which they could provide no suffi- 
 cient remedy. The first Inconvenience arose 
 from the severe Cold which they endured ; 
 the Climate having changed, in the course of 
 a few Hours, from intense Heat, to a contrary 
 extreme. The other Evil, which was of a 
 still more alarming nature, threatened their 
 Destruction, from the Rain which flowed in
 
 MEMOIRS. 369 
 
 upon them in great quantity, as it fell in Tor- 
 rents. While they remained in this deplor- 
 able Situation, up to the knees in water, 
 doubtful whether to continue in the Cellar, 
 where about twenty of them huddled toge- 
 ther, were crouded into a very narrow Space; 
 or whether to attempt reaching some more 
 secure Shelter ; a tall athletic Negro of Ge- 
 neral Cunningham's family, who lay upon 
 him, in a posture which did not admit of his 
 moving, said to the General, " Massa, if I 
 " not make water, I die." " Do it then, in 
 " God's name," answered he. The Negro 
 had no sooner received this permission, than 
 instantly availing himself of it, he bedewed 
 the General, from the nape of his Neck, to 
 his very Shoes ; much, as we are taught to 
 believe, in the manner of a Hottentot Priest, 
 when celebrating the nuptial Ceremony. 
 " But," added Cunningham, when relating 
 the Story, " never did I experience a more 
 " grateful Sensation than was produced by 
 " this warm Libation, which seemed to ani- 
 " mate my frozen Frame, and to revivify my 
 " Body. I regretted when it stopped, and I 
 " derived from it essential service in the Hor- 
 " rors of that indescribable Night." 
 
 VOL. I. 2 B
 
 370 HISTORICAL 
 
 The Situation of the Negro, impelled by 
 a Necessity paramount to all respect or re- 
 straint, reminds me of a fact somewhat si- 
 milar, which took place at the Palace of 
 Sans Souci. The great Frederic, in a select 
 Society, having been one day more elevated 
 and convivial than usual after Dinner, was 
 induced by the gaiety of the Conversation, 
 to prolong the accustomed limits of the Re- 
 past, and to detain his Guests to a late Hour. 
 His Majesty furnished, himself, the chief 
 share of the Entertainment, by the brilliancy 
 of his Sallies ; but he forgot, unfortunately, 
 that his Guests were Men. One of them, an 
 old General, who was often among the per- 
 sons invited to the royal Table, but whose 
 powers of retention had suffered in the 
 course of twelve Campaigns ; anticipated 
 with extreme Impatience, the moment when 
 the King, by rising, would permit of his 
 quitting the Apartment. In this Hope and 
 Expectation, he long supported with unsha- 
 ken Fortitude, one of the most pressing de- 
 mands of Nature. Overcome at length, and 
 yielding to a Power stronger than himself, he 
 suddenly rose from his Chair, and exclaim- 
 ing, " Sire, Tout est grand dans Votre Ma-
 
 MEMOIRS. 371 
 
 " jesti, jusquci la Vessie meme. Sire, Je me 
 " meurs," ran out of the Room. Frederic 
 was charmed with the ingenuity of the Com- 
 pliment, and laughed heartily at the Gene- 
 ral's Distress, which might however have 
 proved fatal to him. The celebrated Astro- 
 nomer Tycho Brahe's Death was caused by 
 a precisely similar Act of imprudent Respect. 
 
 Parliament having been dissolved early in 
 September, I was elected one of the Mem- 
 bers for Hindon in the County of Wilts ; and 
 the new House of Commons meeting to- 
 wards the end of October, the first Debate 
 turned on the Choice of a Speaker. Lord 
 George Germain, not Lord North, com- 
 menced the proceedings on that Evening, 
 and performed the principal ministerial part. 
 It was not intended by Administration, that 
 Sir Fletcher Norton, who during near eleven 
 years, ever since the resignation of Sir John 
 Cust in January, 1770, had filled the Chair, 
 should re-occupy it in the new Parliament. 
 He had given umbrage during the Session of 
 3777, both to the Sovereign, and to Minis- 
 ters, by a memorable Speech, which he ad- 
 dressed to the King, while standing in his 
 official Capacity, at the Bar of the House of 
 2 B 2
 
 372 HISTORICAL 
 
 Peers. And though the Admonition or Ex- 
 hortation that he thought proper then to 
 use, relative to the economical Expenditure 
 of the Money voted by the House of Com- 
 mons, had met with the Approbation of the 
 Country at large, yet it unquestionably pro- 
 duced his eventual Exclusion from the Em- 
 ployment of Speaker. Lord North having 
 tried the ground at St. James's, found His 
 Majesty determined upon the point. Con- 
 scious, nevertheless, that it would be highly 
 unpopular to place his intended Dismission 
 on such a Basis ; Ministers availed them- 
 selves of Sir Fletcher's ill state of Health, 
 which had considerably impeded the pro- 
 gress of public Business in the preceding 
 Session, as forming a sufficient Cause for his 
 removal. While, therefore, they passed high 
 Eulogiums on his Ability and Talents, they 
 lamented that Infirmities of Body rendered it 
 improper to ask of him, or to accept from 
 him, a continuance of his public Services. 
 Sir Fletcher however, rising in his place, and 
 speaking from the Opposition Bench, while 
 he was sustained by that powerful and nu- 
 merous Phalanx ; endeavoured to point out 
 the latent Enmity, as well as the obvious 
 Nullity, of the Ministerial Arguments. He
 
 MEMOIRS. 373 
 
 affected, it is true, to disclaim any wish of 
 being again placed in the Speaker's Chair ; 
 but he took care to accompany the Declara- 
 tion, by an Assertion of his perfect physical 
 Capacity to meet its Duties and Fatigues. His 
 Appearance seemed indeed to present the as- 
 pect of a Man, who, though somewhat de- 
 clined in years, did not manifest any tokens 
 of Decay. All the personal Attacks levelled 
 by Norton's friends, on the Opposition side 
 of the House, at Lord North, could neither 
 induce nor provoke the First Minister to 
 open his lips on the Occasion. He remained 
 profoundly silent : but, Mr. Rigby, uninti- 
 midated by the Clamors of Sir Fletcher's 
 Adherents, after boldly avowing that he was 
 dismissed for his political Trespasses, justi- 
 fied his Exclusion from the Chair, on parlia- 
 mentary or on Ministerial Grounds. Corn- 
 wall was chosen Speaker by a very large 
 Majority. 
 
 Sir Fletcher Norton, though perhaps just- 
 ly accused, as a professional Man, of prefer- 
 ring Profit to conscientious delicacy of Prin- 
 ciple ; and though denominated in the coarse 
 Satires or Caricatures of that Day, by the 
 Epithet of " Sir Bullface Doublefee ;" yet
 
 374 HISTORICAL 
 
 possessed eminent parliamentary Knowledge 
 as well as legal Talents. Far from suffering 
 in his Capacity of Speaker, by a Comparison 
 either with his immediate Predecessor or 
 Successor in that high Office, he must be 
 considered as very superior to both. The 
 Chair of the House of Commons, during 
 the whole course of the Eighteenth Century, 
 was never filled with less Dignity or Energy, 
 than by Sir John Oust, whom Wilkes treats 
 in all his letters, with the most contemptu- 
 ous Irony, or the most mortifying Insult. 
 Cornwall possessed every physical quality 
 requisite to ornament the Place ; a sonorous 
 Voice, a manly, as well as imposing Figure, 
 and a commanding Deportment : but, his 
 best ministerial recommendation to the Of- 
 fice, consisted in the Connexion subsisting 
 between him and Mr. Charles Jenkinson, 
 then Secretary at War, which the Marriage 
 of the former Gentleman, with the Sister of 
 the latter, had cemented. After his Elec- 
 tion, Cornwall gave little Satisfaction, and 
 had recourse to the narcotic virtues of Por- 
 ter, for enabling him to sustain its Fatigue : 
 an Auxiliary which sometimes becoming too 
 powerful for the Principal who called in its 
 Assistance, produced Inconveniences. The
 
 MEMOIRS. 375 
 
 " Rolliad," alluding to the Speaker's Chair, 
 as it was filled in 1784, says, 
 
 " There Cornwall sits, and ah ! compelled by Fate, 
 Must sit for ever through the long Debate ; 
 Save when compelled by Nature's sovereign Will, 
 
 Sometimes to empty, and sometimes to fill." 
 
 " Like sad Prometheus fastened to the Rock, 
 
 Jn vain he looks for Pity to the Clock ; 
 
 In vain the Powers of strengthening Porter tries, 
 
 And nods to Bellamy for fresh Supplies." 
 
 We may here remark, as a curious Fact, 
 that Sir Fletcher's Dismission from the Office 
 of Speaker, conducted him within eighteen 
 Months, to the Dignity of the Peerage ; an 
 Elevation which he owed solely to the jea- 
 lousies and rivalities that arose between 
 Lord Rockingham and Lord Shelburne, as 
 soon as they got into Power : whereas, 
 Cornwall, his successful Competitor, after 
 presiding more than eight years in the 
 House of Commons, died without ever 
 entering the House of Lords. It was thus 
 that Dunning reached that Goal, while 
 Wallace missed it. So much does the Dis- 
 position of Events, which in common lan- 
 guage we denominate Fortune, regulate the 
 affairs of Men, in defiance of Juvenal's 
 
 " Nos te, 
 " Nos facimus, Fortuna, Beam, Caeloque locamus."
 
 376 HISTORICAL 
 
 I scarcely remember, during near four- 
 teen Years, that I sate in different Parlia- 
 ments, a more personal, or a more acrimo 
 nious Debate than I witnessed soon after 
 my first Entrance into the House, on the 
 sixth of November. It took Place on the 
 Address proposed to be carried up to the 
 Foot of the Throne, in Answer to His Ma- 
 jesty's Speech. Lord George Germain again 
 assumed the first Part, and attracted to- 
 wards Himself all the Severity of Opposi- 
 tion; Lord North being unavoidably com- 
 pelled to absent Himself, on Account of 
 Indisposition. The recent Nomination of 
 Sir Hugh Palliser to the Government of 
 Greenwich Hospital, drew from Fox the 
 most pointed, as w r ell as violent Reflections, 
 not only on various Members of the Cabinet, 
 but, on the Sovereign himself. Not content 
 with declaring that " there could be only 
 " one of the King's Servants," (the Earl of 
 Sandwich,) " so abandoned, so lost to all 
 " Sensibility or Honor, as to have dared 
 " to advise such a Measure;" he added, 
 that " his Surprise was the less excited by 
 " the Fact, because it formed the Charac- 
 " teristic of the present Reign, to hunt 
 " down, to defame, and to vilify great or
 
 MEMOIRS. 377 
 
 " popular public Men ; while the infamous 
 " were upheld, employed, and rewarded." 
 As if apprehensive that the Application of 
 these last Words might be in any Degree 
 ambiguous, He subjoined, fixing his Eyes 
 on Lord George Germain, " The recent 
 " Promotion of Sir Hugh Palliser is dic- 
 " tated by the same Spirit, which has pro- 
 " duced the Promotion of a Man to one of 
 " the greatest civil Employments, who has 
 " been publicly degraded, and declared to 
 " be incapable of serving again in any 
 " military Capacity, at the Head of every 
 " Regiment in the Service." So severe, if 
 not illiberal an Allusion, which could not 
 be misunderstood, instantly called up Lord 
 George ; who observed that " the Aspersion 
 " which the Honourable Member had 
 " thought proper to throw out in the Course 
 " of his Speech, being obviously directed 
 " at Himself; the House might naturally 
 " expect He would notice it. I rise 
 " therefore," said He, " once for all, simply 
 " to declare that whenever Gentlemen de- 
 ' scend to the Meanness of personal Invec- 
 " tives, instead of Argument, and shall think 
 " proper to make Me their Object; I am 
 " prepared to treat both the Invectives and
 
 378 HISTORICAL 
 
 " their Author, with the Contempt that 
 " They deserve." Fox allowed this Answer 
 to pass unnoticed on that Evening ; but, 
 next Day, having probably felt that it could 
 not be altogether despised, He thought pro- 
 per to say, while speaking on the Report of 
 the Address to the Crown, that " the noble 
 " Secretary's Words during the preceding 
 " Debate, however personal to Himself 
 " they might be, yet were so qualified, as 
 " to render it wholly unnecessary for Him to 
 " take any further Notice of them." Ad- 
 miral Keppel treading in the Traces of Fox, 
 repeated however nearly the same Accusa- 
 tions as had already been brought forward 
 against the first Lord of the Admiralty; 
 whom Keppel charged with Incapacity and 
 Mismanagement of the naval Forces, and 
 stigmatized as meriting universal Reproba- 
 tion for having recommended Palliser to 
 His Majesty, for the Government of Green- 
 wich Hospital. Such an Appointment con- 
 veyed indeed indirectly a severe Censure 
 upon Himself. These Personalities and 
 Charges did not prevent the Address from 
 being voted by a Majority of Eighty-two. 
 The Exclusion of Sir Fletcher from the 
 Chair, on the first Day of the Session, had
 
 MEMOIRS. 379 
 
 only been carried by Sixty-nine. On so 
 precarious a Foundation did the Ministers 
 stand, even at the Commencement of a new 
 Parliament; and so weak were the Founda- 
 tions on which reposed Lord North's Power 
 towards the Close of the Year 1780, under- 
 mined as it was by an unfortunate, if not 
 an unpopular Contest. When a Motion 
 was made a few Days later, by Mr. Thomas 
 Townsend, to vote the Thanks of the House 
 to their late Speaker; after a Debate of 
 considerable Length, Administration could 
 only command ninety-six Votes, while Op- 
 position carried the Question by a Majority 
 of Forty ; having divided One Hundred and 
 thirty-six, though Lord North was present 
 on the Occasion. But, the Motion being 
 conceived in very laconic and general Terms, 
 the first Minister neither rose to speak, nor 
 made any personal Effort to impede its 
 Success. 
 
 A long and very interesting Debate arose 
 on the 27th of November, when Mr. Daniel 
 Parker Coke, Member for the Town of Not- 
 tingham, (one of the most upright, honor- 
 able, and incorruptible Individuals who ever 
 sate in Parliament;) moved the Thanks of
 
 380 HISTORICAL 
 
 the House to Sir Henry Clinton and Earl 
 Cornwallis, for the important Services that 
 those Commanders had rendered to their 
 Country, on the other Side of the Atlantic. 
 An Infinity of curious Matter was elicited 
 by the Nature of the Subject, as it naturally 
 or necessarily embraced the American War ; 
 a Topic calculated to produce interminable 
 Discussions. Neither the first Minister, nor 
 Mr. Fox, though both addressed the House 
 in the Course of the Evening, performed the 
 principal Parts. Wilkes rising in his Place, 
 pronounced a Speech of great Length, and 
 of still greater Severity; which, (as He was 
 accustomed to do,) He had prepared, not 
 without evident Labour, for the Occasion. 
 It was, like every Composition of his; spi- 
 rited, classic, and stamped with the charac- 
 teristic Energy of his fearless Mind. In the 
 Course of it, He neither spared Lord Corn- 
 wallis, whose Inconsistency in drawing his 
 Sword to maintain a Cause, which, a few 
 Years earlier, He had reprobated publicly 
 in the House of Peers, Wilkes endeavoured 
 to expose : nor did He fail to attack both 
 the Ministers and the Sovereign, by whom 
 the War was carried on against the Colonies. 
 The Right claimed by the Crown and by
 
 MEMOIRS. 381 
 
 Parliament, to tax America, he reprobated 
 as " an antiquated Usurpation of the Stu- 
 " arts, revived under the third Prince of the 
 M Family of Brunswic. This Pretension," 
 exclaimed He, " has been in every Age, the 
 " favorite Maxim of Despots. In Oppo- 
 " sition to it, Hampden shed his Blood. 
 " Such an Attempt against the fundamental 
 " Rights of the English People, justified 
 " our Ancestors in commencing the civil 
 " War which conducted the Tyrant Charles 
 " to the Scaffold." He concluded by im- 
 ploring of Mr. Coke to withdraw a Motion 
 in which no Man could concur, without 
 indirectly giving his Sanction or Approba- 
 tion to the American War itself. Lord 
 North on the other Hand, expressed his 
 Hope, that Wilkes would be the only Indi- 
 vidual in the House to oppose the Motion. 
 But, another dissentient Voice was raised to 
 it in the Person of Sir Joseph Mawbey ; a 
 Man who, from some unfortunate Circum- 
 stances of his private Life, never could ob- 
 tain a patient or a candid Hearing in Par- 
 liament. Rigby and Courtenay, both at- 
 tacked Him; not, indeed, with Argument, 
 but, with a more powerful Weapon, Ridi- 
 cule. Sheridan and Fox rose to defend Sir
 
 382 HISTORICAL 
 
 Joseph, as He constantly voted with Oppo- 
 sition. In 1784, after He had quitted that 
 Party, and joined Pitt against " the Coa- 
 " lition," they turned their powerful Artillery 
 upon Him. The " Rolliad," when speaking 
 of the Necessity imposed on the Speaker, 
 Cornwall, to continue in the Chair while the 
 House is sitting, adds, 
 
 " Painful Pre-Eminence ! He hears, 'tis true, 
 Fox, North, and Burke : but, hears Sir Joseph too." 
 
 Lines which form a Parody on Pope's Ad- 
 dress to Lord Bolingbroke, which He con- 
 cludes by saying, 
 
 " Painful Pre-Eminence ! Ourselves to view, 
 Above Life's Weakness and its Comforts too !" 
 
 Sir Joseph Mawbey spoke nevertheless with 
 great good Sense, though not with Brilliancy. 
 He was at this Time the Colleague of Ad- 
 miral Keppel, and represented the County 
 of Surry. To the Marquis of Rockingham, 
 during the short Administration of that No- 
 bleman, in 1765, He owed his Elevation to 
 the Rank of a Baronet. Like Wilkes, He 
 refused to concur in the Vote of Thanks to 
 Lord Cornwallis ; but, the Motion was not 
 the less finally carried without a Division.
 
 MEMOIRS. 383 
 
 Little Consolation can be derived during 
 this gloomy period of English History, from 
 carrying our view beyond the Metropolis, 
 to the Extremities of the Empire, or from 
 considering the Operations of the War by 
 sea and land. As Geary had succeeded to 
 the Command of the Channel Fleet, by Har- 
 dy's Death, so Darby took the same Com- 
 mand soon afterwards, in consequence of 
 Geary's Resignation. None of these Names 
 will be pronounced with Enthusiasm by 
 Posterity. Admiral Barrington, by his re- 
 pulse of D'Estaign at St. Lucie, acquired 
 the only Renown gained on the Ocean, from 
 the Commencement of Hostilities in July, 
 1778, till the period when Rodney was sent 
 out to the West Indies. The inveterate Dis- 
 putes that arose between Keppel and Pal- 
 liser, which, after convulsing the Navy, and 
 dividing the Kingdom, began insensibly to 
 fall into Oblivion ; were again revived during 
 the short time that the House of Commons 
 remained sitting before the Christmas Re- 
 cess. In consequence of Sir Hugh Palli- 
 ser's Appointment to the Government of 
 Greenwich Hospital, the Events of the 27th 
 July, 1778, were discussed anew, with all 
 the Acrimony of Party. Fox originated the
 
 384 HISTORICAL 
 
 Discussion by the Severity of his Animad- 
 versions on Palliser, who had just taken his 
 Seat in the House, as Member for the Town 
 of Huntingdon, where Lord Sandwich's In- 
 terest had procured his Election. The Earl 
 of Lisburne, second Lord of the Board of 
 Admiralty, having, in a Committee of Sup- 
 ply, laid the Navy Estimates on the Table, 
 an animated and most personal Debate 
 ensued. Lord Nugent, who was then well 
 advanced towards fourscore, vainly at- 
 tempted, (like Nestor in the " Iliad,") by 
 calling Fox repeatedly to Order, to avert 
 the Storm, and to give the Subject under 
 Consideration, a more general Direction. 
 When Fox had exhausted every Topic of 
 Declamation with which the Occasion fur- 
 nished Him, both against Palliser, and 
 against the first Lord of the Admiralty, 
 Lord North rose to protect them ; and in a 
 very able, as well as argumentative Speech, 
 endeavoured to shew how unjust a Persecu- 
 tion the Vice Admiral had undergone. Sir 
 Hugh himself, conscious of his Inability to 
 contend with such an Adversary as Fox, on 
 such a Theatre as Parliament; after denying 
 the pretended Allegations made by his Ene- 
 mies, and acknowledging his Obligations to
 
 MEMOIRS. 385 
 
 the first Minister for the eloquent Defence 
 just pronounced ; proceeded to read his own 
 Justification. The Paper, by its Length, 
 Dullness, and perhaps more than either, by 
 the imperfect or defective Manner of its De- 
 livery, put the Patience of his Auditors, as 
 I well remember, to a severe Trial. Palliser, 
 who had risen from an obscure Origin, by 
 long and distinguished Services, to the Rank 
 of a Baronet, and to some of the highest 
 Honors of his Profession ; wanted the Ad- 
 vantages of Education, as well as those of 
 Manner, Deportment, and external Grace, 
 in all which He was wholly deficient. Nor 
 had He, like his Opponent, Keppel, the 
 Support derived from high Descent and 
 Alliances. I have however always consi- 
 dered Him as a most judicious, meritorious, 
 and calumniated naval Officer, who was 
 overborne by the Torrent of Party, and 
 fell a Sacrifice to Ministerial Unpopularity. 
 Never can I forget the Picture that He 
 drew of the Action, fought on the 27th of 
 July ; a Day not to be recollected by an 
 Englishman without Feelings allied to Hu- 
 miliation. He declared in the Face of the 
 House of Commons, that the British Fleet 
 were led into Action in a disorderly and 
 VOL. i. 2 c
 
 386 HISTORICAL 
 
 unskilful manner. In the Beginning, with 
 too much Contempt of the Enemy ; but, 
 towards its Close, with too much Awe ; 
 keeping at too great a Distance, and ma- 
 noeuvring in Confusion. In his Reply to 
 Palliser, Keppel contented Himself with 
 entrenching his Reputation behind the Sen- 
 tences of the two Courts Martial ; and 
 reiterating the Charges of Treachery, blen- 
 ded with Falsehood, which his Honorable 
 Relation, (Fox,) had already brought for- 
 ward against the first Lord of the Admiralty. 
 Not that Keppel's Courage could be called 
 in Question, as had happened, though per- 
 haps most unjustly, in the Instance of Byng: 
 but, in Self Possession, Judgment, superior 
 maritime Skill, and Presence of Mind; in 
 all those Endowments of a great Commander 
 which ensure Victory, I have always re- 
 garded Him as deficient. Even the State of 
 his Health, disordered and shattered by 
 Sickness, tended to incapacitate Him on the 
 twenty-seventh of July, for performing with 
 Promptitude, the arduous Duties of his 
 Situation. I believe, now that Time has 
 softened down the Asperities of Party, this 
 Opinion has become general. Keppel's 
 Exploits will never be ranked with those of
 
 MEMOIRS. 387 
 
 Rodney, of Duncan, or of Nelson ; nor will 
 they ever be associated to the glorious Re- 
 collections of the best Years of George the 
 Third. Lord North, with whom, not to be 
 defeated, constituted a sort of Victory ; and 
 who generally contented himself with half 
 Triumphs ; after defending Palliser with his 
 usual Ability, and with more than his com- 
 mon Animation ; having thus rescued him 
 from the immediate Attack of his Enemies, 
 aimed at no further Advantage, but moved 
 for an Adjournment early in December. 
 
 As if to complete the Climax of our na 
 tional Misfortunes at this humiliating Period, 
 Holland was added to the number of our 
 Enemies; War being declared against the 
 Seven United Provinces, before the close 
 of 1780, notwithstanding the Repugnance 
 equally felt at such a Rupture, by the King 
 of Great Britain, and by the Stadtholder, 
 More than a Century had then elapsed, 
 since we had been engaged in Hostilities 
 with the Dutch, under the profligate Reign 
 of Charles the Second. During some Por- 
 tion of the intermediate Time, the two Coun- 
 tries had been governed by one Prince ; and 
 one Soul might be said to animate their
 
 388 HISTORICAL 
 
 Counsels after the Expulsion of James the 
 Second, when their joint Efforts were di- 
 rected to stem the Current of Louis the 
 Fourteenth's Arms in the Netherlands. Even 
 subsequent to King William's Decease, the 
 United Provinces made common Cause with 
 his Successor, against France, under Marl- 
 borough : but, the disgraceful Termination of 
 that great Struggle, which lasted near ten 
 Years, dissevered England and Holland. 
 After the Peace of Utrecht, in 1712, no 
 close nor cordial Union subsisted between 
 the Cabinets of the Hague and of St. James's. 
 The Dutch were, indeed, prevailed on to 
 join George the Second, as Auxiliaries, 
 though not as Principals, in the war of 1 743, 
 undertaken to preserve Maria Theresa on 
 the Throne of her Father Charles the Sixth. 
 Unfortunately, the English, Dutch, and 
 Austrian Armies, which, while conducted 
 by the great Talents of Eugene and Marl- 
 borough, had nearly driven Louis the Four- 
 teenth to the last Extremities ; when led by 
 Konigseck, and by William, Duke of Cum- 
 berland, were every where defeated on the 
 same Plains. 
 
 Marshal Saxe made himself Master of the
 
 MEMOIRS. 389 
 
 Barrier that protected Holland against the 
 overwhelming Power of France; and only 
 the Moderation or the Indolence of Louis 
 the Fifteenth, which checked his Conquests, 
 gave Peace to Europe in 1748, at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. That Prince, had he been ani- 
 mated by the Ambition of his Predecessor, 
 or by the Spirit of Conquest which impelled 
 the French Republic in 1795, might have 
 entered Amsterdam, and have subjected 
 the Zuyder Sea to his Dominion. Having 
 escaped from this imminent Peril, the Dutch 
 remained neutral Spectators of the Contest 
 which took Place between us and France in 
 1756, when Flanders, which for near a Cen- 
 tury had constituted the Palaestra of Europe, 
 by a singular Transition became a Country 
 of Repose; and the House of Austria for the 
 first Time joined her inveterate Foe, the 
 House of Bourbon. It was reserved for the 
 calamitous JEra of the American War, which 
 familiarized us with Disgraces and Reverses, 
 to witness Holland openly ranged against 
 Great Britain, under the Banners of Louis 
 the Sixteenth and Charles the Third. The 
 Opposition exulted at the Declaration of 
 Hostilities between the two Countries, as 
 setting the Seal to Lord North's ministerial
 
 390 HISTORICAL 
 
 Embarrassments. Nor could it be denied, 
 that the Necessity for blocking the Mouth of 
 the Texel, and probably engaging the Dutch 
 Fleet at the Entrance of their own Ports, in 
 the depressed, as well as inferior State to 
 which the British Navy had then sunk ; aug- 
 mented the Difficulties under which the Ad- 
 ministration laboured, while it encreased 
 the Unpopularity of the Sovereign. 
 
 Yet never did any Government make 
 greater Efforts to avert and avoid a Rupture, 
 than were exerted by Lord North's Cabinet. 
 Sir Joseph Yorke, who, by long Residence 
 in Holland, had become in some Measure 
 naturalized at the Hague, exhausted every 
 art of Diplomacy, to stem the Current of 
 French and American Politics. The Stadt- 
 holder, no less than the Majority of the Peo- 
 ple throughout the Seven United Provinces, 
 nourished the warmest Partiality towards 
 Great Britain : but, the Prince of Orange 
 had lost the public Respect which his high 
 Office ought to have excited ; and the Na- 
 tion, immersed in narrow Speculations of 
 commercial Advantage, displayed no Spark 
 of that public Spirit, or of those great Ener- 
 gies, which had operated such powerful Ef-
 
 MEMOIRS. 391 
 
 fects against Philip the Second and Third, 
 Kings of Spain, during the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth Centuries. The Pensionary, 
 Van Berkel, acting under the Impulse of 
 Maurepas and of Vergennes, precipitated 
 his Countrymen on War with England, by 
 signing a Treaty with the American Insur- 
 gents ; precisely as Madison, in the Summer 
 of 1812, commenced Hostilities with us, by 
 the Suggestions of his Corsican Director. 
 Nor did Fox and Burke arraign more se- 
 verely the Measures of Lord North, as hav- 
 ing produced the Rupture that took Place 
 with Holland ; than the Leaders of Oppo- 
 sition in the House of Commons, inveighed 
 against the line of Conduct adopted on the 
 part of Ministers, which led to the late Con- 
 test with America. Both Wars arose prin- 
 cipally from a similar Cause ; the apparently 
 desperate, or highly alarming Condition of 
 England. In 1780, we appeared to be ra- 
 pidly sinking under the Combination of Eu- 
 ropean, Asiatic, and American Foes. In 
 1812, Bonaparte, Master of the Continent, 
 from the Frontiers of Portugal to those of 
 Russia, prepared to consummate the Subju- 
 gation of Europe, by a March to Moscow. 
 To Van Berkel, and to Madison* the Ocea-
 
 392 HISTORICAL 
 
 sion seemed equally favorable for the Deve- 
 lopement of their rancorous Enmity to the 
 English Government. The Measures of the 
 former Minister led, at no distant Period of 
 Time, in the Space of about fifteen Years, to 
 the Subjugation and Subversion of the Re- 
 public of Holland. Futurity will shew 
 whether the Policy of Madison, if his base 
 Subservience to Bonaparte can merit the 
 Name, will prove more successful or benefi- 
 cial to his Countrymen ; and will prove how 
 far the American President may justly chal- 
 lenge their future Gratitude, more than the 
 Pensionary of Amsterdam merited the Sup- 
 port of the Dutch. 
 
 Nearly about the same time, Maria The- 
 resa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, ex- 
 pired at Vienna, after a Reign of forty Years, 
 during which she had exhibited a memora- 
 ble Instance of the Vicissitudes of Fortune. 
 Like Frederic the Second, King of Prussia, 
 she acceded in 1740; and a great Portion of 
 their Lives was passed in mutual Hostility. 
 The Strength of her Mind, and the Tenacity 
 of her Character, sustained her amidst Diffi- 
 culties, which a Woman of inferior Resolution 
 could not have surmounted. Since the Death
 
 MEMOIRS. 393 
 
 of Elizabeth, Queen of England, in 1603, 
 Europe had not beheld any Female seated on 
 the Throne, who united so many private Vir- 
 tues, to so many great public Endowments. 
 Maria Theresa manifested a masculine Mind, 
 blended with feminine Qualities calculated 
 to conciliate universal Affection. Elizabeth, 
 however illustrious she appears when viewed 
 in her kingly Capacity, wanted Softness, 
 Sincerity, and all the gentler Qualifications 
 that render Woman an Object of Attach- 
 ment. Henry the Seventh and Henry the 
 Eighth were both resuscitated in Her, 
 though without the Avarice of her Grand- 
 father, or the capricious and cruel Despo- 
 tism of her Father. Maria Theresa resem- 
 bled Her in this Point of View. As a So- 
 vereign, she possessed far greater Constancy 
 and Energy than had been exhibited by her 
 Father, the Emperor Charles the Sixth, 
 or by her Grandfather, Leopold the First. 
 Charles, while resident in Spain during " the 
 War of the Succession," displayed no En- 
 dowments of Character, and was twice dri- 
 ven out of Madrid in Consequence of his 
 Delays or Incapacity. Leopold betrayed a 
 Want of every Resource, when in 1683, at 
 the Approach of the Grand Vizier Cara 
 VOL. i. 2 D
 
 394 HISTORICAL 
 
 Mustapha, he fled to Passau, leaving his 
 Capital to be invested, and his Dominions 
 to be ravaged, by the Turks. The Caution, 
 Experience, and Moderation of Maria The- 
 resa, increased by religious Scruples, im- 
 posed a Restraint on the pernicious Activity 
 of her Son and Successor, Joseph the Se- 
 cond. His Accession to the Dominions of 
 the House of Austria, and the Line of Po- 
 licy that he embraced, constituted one of the 
 many concurring Circumstances which even- 
 tually facilitated the Progress of the French 
 Arms in the Netherlands, after the Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 Though sinking under the accumulated 
 Pressure of advancing Age, as well as of Dis- 
 ease and Infirmity, Maria Theresa retained 
 the Possession of all her Faculties, nearly to 
 the last Moments of her Life. Religion and 
 Resignation smoothed its Close. Two of the 
 Archduchesses, her Daughters, Maria and 
 Elizabeth, who remained unmarried, con- 
 stantly attended about her Bed ; but I have 
 been assured that they could not prevail on 
 their Mother, though they earnestly entreat- 
 ed it, even a short Time preceding her Disso- 
 lution, to bequeath her Blessing to the Arch-
 
 MEMOIRS. 395 
 
 duchess Amelia, their Sister. That Prin- 
 cess, who had been married to Don Ferdi- 
 nand, Duke of Parma, was supposed to 
 have committed great Irregularities of every 
 Kind. Only a short Time before Maria The- 
 resa breathed her last, having apparently 
 fallen into a Sort of Insensibility, and her 
 Eyes being closed ; one of the Ladies near 
 her Person, in Reply to an Enquiry made re- 
 specting the State of the Empress, an- 
 swered that her Majesty seemed to be 
 asleep. " No," replied she, " 1 could sleep, 
 " if I would indulge Repose ; but I am sen- 
 " sible of the near Approach of Death, and 
 " will not allow myself to be surprized by 
 '* him in my Sleep. I wish to meet my Dis- 
 " solution, awake." There is nothing trans- 
 mitted to us by Antiquity, more impressive 
 than this Answer, which appears divested of 
 all Ostentation. Voltaire himself, Cynic as 
 he was, and always severe upon crowned 
 Heads, unless when mollified by the flatter- 
 ing Letters or Presents of Catherine the 
 Second, must have admired it. Even the 
 great Frederic, who survived Maria Theresa 
 near six Years ; though he encountered the 
 gradual Advances of Death with Philosophy 
 and Fortitude, yet betrayed much Reluct-
 
 396 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS. 
 
 ance, displayed some Peevishness, and per- 
 haps manifested a little Affectation or Vanity, 
 in the Preparations which he made for his 
 Departure. We may see the Proofs of it, in 
 his Conversations with Zimmerman. Nei- 
 ther Augustus, nor Vespasian, nor Adrian, 
 though each of these Emperors seems to 
 have contemplated Death with a steady 
 Countenance, and almost with a smiling 
 Look ; yet manifested more perfect Self- 
 possession in the last Act of Life, than did 
 Maria Theresa. She was as much superior 
 in Virtue to her Contemporary, Catherine 
 the Second, as she fell beneath that Prin- 
 cess in Brilliancy of Talents. In the Arts of 
 reigning, in Courage, in Benignity of Disposi- 
 tion, and in solid Endowments of Under- 
 standing, the Austrian may dispute for Su- 
 periority even with the Russian Czarina. 
 Posterity will perhaps confer more Admira- 
 tion on the latter Empress, but, must reserve 
 its moral Approbation and Esteem for the 
 former Sovereign. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 J. M'Creery, Printer, 
 Black-Hone-Court, London.
 
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