M 
 
 
 
 2^^ 
 
 FJf 
 
 - 
 
 ■'-',. 
 
 7XZ1 
 
 ■r-- 
 
 ^>VV 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 - £ , ' .- 
 
 
 
 ^^E^H 
 
 "'">— ft 
 
 
 •^•^"^^1 
 
 * ■', k '«.. • - - 
 
 
 < pfe, Aj 
 
 *j . :: Yi -""'*" 
 
 
 <* V <^V, '• 
 
 . V- -' '"-- 
 
 
 ^r-i^ 
 
 ,- " T ", : ^" 
 
 
 3^t>£f^5 
 
 *^""^C' 
 
 
 T*3[ 5f_. 
 
 v, : : ;: -.->.. ,~ 
 
 
 ;' %&i: ■ 
 
 H^ME3&'" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r--~y-'" 
 
 ■ j_ ■ 
 
 
 * , T - -■- 
 
 
 
 * ft^r^.*? 
 
 • ' ~T- *!*f 
 
9g«KEHEY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 . 
 
 
 ( //"sY/srsY/ >y^,/ f // 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 OR THE 
 
 Opinions and Part of the Life 
 
 or 
 
 CALEB CCELEBS, ESQ. 
 
 A DISTANT RELATION OF THE LATE 
 
 CHARLES CCELEBS, ESQ. 
 
 DECEASED. 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR GEORGE ROVER, BART. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 - ■ 
 
 PRINTED FOR EDMUND LLOYD, HARLEY STREET, 
 CAVENDISH SQUARE. 
 
 1809. 
 
G.E. Miles, Printer, 
 127, Oxford Street, St. Mary-le-bone. 
 
Cot 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The importunity of friends has become 
 so general an excuse for publishing our 
 adventures and cogitations, and has been 
 so well received, that I shall not look 
 further for an apology for offering to the 
 Public a few observations I have made 
 on the general characters and manners of 
 our sister country. The original letters 
 have been handed about among friends too 
 
 403 
 
11 PREFACE. 
 
 partial to the Author for him to be able 
 truly to appreciate their merit; but the 
 Public may receive some amusement, and 
 at any rate will respect the motive, which 
 is no other than to endeavour to raise 
 the female sex, " Heaven's last best gift," 
 to higher charms; and to encourage them 
 to add to virtuous habits all those attractions 
 of elegant accomplishment, which a late 
 system of education is endeavouring to 
 supersede. 
 
 I must take the opportunity of this 
 address to introduce myself to my readers. 
 I am now in my forty-first year, and 
 having inherited from my father a large 
 independent fortune, have made the amuse- 
 ment of travelling subservient to my desire 
 
PREFACE. iii 
 
 of mental improvement ; and have eagerly 
 seized the opportunities which have offered 
 of accompanying friends of similar in- 
 clinations in their tours to the northern 
 capitals of Europe ; to Paris, Rome, and 
 Constantinople. 
 
 I had been early struck with the obser- 
 vation of Doctor Johnson, (a man whose 
 opinions, when unbiassed by party prejudice, 
 I had always held in the greatest esteem) 
 " All travel," says he, " has its advantages; 
 if the passenger visits better countries, he 
 may improve his own ; if fortune carries 
 him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it/* 
 Finding myself, then, in the spring of 1808, 
 entirely at leisure, and without any family 
 restraint upon me, I accepted the invitation 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 of my friend Caleb Ccelebs, a distant 
 relation of a gentleman of the same name, 
 who has lately made a great noise, and 
 to whom my friend is very proud of being 
 twentieth cousin, and sailed for England. 
 After a pleasant voyage, I arrived safe 
 in this most delightful country, and met 
 my friend, Ccelebs, with much real satis- 
 faction. 
 
 At first, his primitive manner much sur- 
 prised me, as I knew that his connexions 
 were high; but recollecting him to be much 
 of a theorist, and that, whatever scheme 
 he had filled his imagination with, still 
 the good of his fellow creatures was his 
 greatest concern, I suffered it to pass 
 without comment ; and being anxious to 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 reach the capital, we ordered our chaise 
 to proceed. In my journey, I was agitated 
 by no other feeling than the expectation 
 of gratifying a laudable curiosity, in ex- 
 amining the domestic habits and customs 
 of a people bearing the highest rank in 
 the scale of nations ; and whose political 
 consequence was known and felt over the 
 whole habitable world ; love, avarice, and 
 ambition, the most powerful movers of the 
 human breast, I had scarcely felt. In my 
 passage through life, I had hitherto kept 
 the " even tenor of my way," and en- 
 deavoured to live in the true spirit of my 
 christian profession. I remembered, " that 
 the fear of the Lord, is the beginning of 
 wisdom," and that Christ our Saviour, had 
 promised life and immortality to those who 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 of my friend Caleb Ccelebs, a distant 
 relation of a gentleman of the same name, 
 who has lately made a great noise, and 
 to whom my friend is very proud of being 
 twentieth cousin, and sailed for England. 
 After a pleasant voyage, I arrived safe 
 in this most delightful country, and met 
 my friend, Ccelebs, with much real satis- 
 faction. 
 
 At first, his primitive manner much sur- 
 prised me, as I knew that his connexions 
 were high; but recollecting him to be much 
 of a theorist, and that, whatever scheme 
 he had filled his imagination with, still 
 the good of his fellow creatures was his 
 greatest concern, I suffered it to pass 
 without comment ; and being anxious to 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 reach the capital, we ordered our chaise 
 to proceed. In my journey, I was agitated 
 by no other feeling than the expectation 
 of gratifying a laudable curiosity, in ex- 
 amining the domestic habits and customs 
 of a people bearing the highest rank in 
 the scale of nations ; and whose political 
 consequence was known and felt over the 
 whole habitable world ; love, avarice, and 
 ambition, the most powerful movers of the 
 human breast, I had scarcely felt. In my 
 passage through life, I had hitherto kept 
 the " even tenor of my way," and en- 
 deavoured to live in the true spirit of my 
 christian profession. I remembered, " that 
 the fear of the Lord, is the beginning of 
 wisdom," and that Christ our Saviour, had 
 promised life and immortality to those who 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 truly believed and worshipped him in their 
 works. On these principles I endeavoured 
 to frame my conduct, and to live in 
 christian charity with all mankind. 
 
 When I left my native country, I pro- 
 mised to communicate my movements and 
 observations to my good friend Charles 
 Rastock, Esquire, to whose earnest intreaties 
 I have yielded in making them public ; 
 having first obtained from the other cor- 
 respondents the few letters which were 
 necessary to elucidate my own. 
 
 George Rover. 
 

 CCELEBS SUITED, $c. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to C. Rastock, Esq. 
 
 Woodstock , Oxon. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 Lai fe has not many things better 
 than this," said Dr. Johnson, as he was 
 bowling along in his carriage, with his friend 
 Boswell ; and I am inclined to think, that 
 travelling with a pleasant observing com- 
 panion, in a well-hung post chaise, on such 
 roads and with such horses as this country 
 furnishes beyond all other that I have visited, 
 is among our most innocent amusements. In 
 
 B 
 
2 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 a descriptive tour of England it is difficult to 
 find any thing to object to, except the — — 
 charges. 
 
 After rolling along for two days in the 
 pleasantest manner imaginable, I cannot but 
 begin my correspondence by paying a just 
 tribute to these accommodations. 
 
 At Holyhead, I found our friend Ccelebs, 
 who arrived last evening ; he had made every 
 arrangement for my comfortable reception, 
 and was as friendly and warm hearted, as 
 you well remember him. He has acquired 
 less polish, than might have been expected, 
 considering his easy access to some of the 
 first families, hehasatthe same time, lost none 
 of his rigid uprightness, but even preserves 
 his very punctilious integrity; I do not think, 
 he would pass a turnpike without paying, 
 though it delayed him half an hour to find 
 the keeper. He is rather more plain in his 
 dress than is consistent with his age, or with 
 his fortune. These, I think should always 
 be considered ; and I believe you agree with 
 me in the opinion, that a man of opulence 
 
COELEBS SUITED. 3 
 
 should carry with him the appearance of a 
 liberal and proper expenditure. 
 
 " Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 
 
 " But not express'd in fancy ; rich not gaudy, 
 
 " For the apparel oft proclaims the man." 
 
 He is rather prone to argument ; in this we 
 suit exactly, as a very trifling objection will 
 keep him going, and his anxiety to set every 
 one right will not allow him to leave a sub- 
 ject while there is any hope that he may bring 
 conviction to his auditor. He knows that I 
 am writing to you, and desires to be kindly 
 remembered : I shall now bid you adieu, 
 with best compliments to your dear Lady, 
 believe me, 
 
 Yours, very sincerely, 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
 P. S. I hope my next letter will be from 
 London. 
 
 b 2 
 
4 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock. 
 Esq. 
 
 Woodstock j Oxon. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 On the morning after I had the pleasure 
 of last writing to you, we visited Blenheim- 
 House, the princely residence of the Dukes of 
 Marlborough, raised and endowed by the 
 munificence of the country to reward and 
 commemorate the services of the successful 
 opponent of Lewis the 14th. To his con- 
 summate skill as a politician, he added the 
 genius and ability of the most renowned of 
 generals. By the first, he formed, cemented, 
 and brought into action, a most powerful 
 confederacy, to which his talents and courage 
 gave direction and complete success. Vol- 
 taire says of him, "Cet homme qui n'a jamais 
 assiege de ville qu'il nait prise, ni donne' de 
 bataille qu'il n'ait gagnee,avoitfait autant de 
 mal a la France par son esprit que par ses 
 amies." 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 The entrance of the park from Woodstock 
 is remarkably fine. It is more grand than 
 vou can conceive anything, which carries with 
 it such evident marks of artful arrangement. 
 At the same time every thing is on so vast a 
 scale ; the palace, the wood, the water, are 
 each so large, yet so well suited to each other, 
 that I know nothing that quite equals the first 
 impression of it. — You are not to think from 
 this, that there is any thing sublime or 
 romantic in it; and I cannot better describe 
 it to you than by requesting you to enlarge m 
 as great a degree, as your imagination will 
 permit, the mansion and domains of your 
 neighbour at Horn. • There is nothing in 
 the park greatly to surprize, after this first 
 
 view. 
 
 The palace covers a great area, and is at a 
 distance very magnificent, but the wretched 
 proportion of the portico in the principal 
 front makes one regret, that at a time when 
 the true principles of beauty are so much 
 better understood, the liberality of' the pos- 
 sessor does not improve this most striking 
 
O CCELEBS SUITED 
 
 objection to so grand a building. I must 
 here too enter my protest against the pillar, 
 called Churchill's Pillar, and though I would 
 not now condemn it to destruction, vet, I 
 must raise my voice against erecting a column 
 of such an altitude as to reduce the stately 
 trees which surround it to the appearance 
 of shrubs, or to convey the idea of a stunted 
 vegetation. The interior corresponds with 
 the impression you receive from without; and 
 the pictures, in excellence and number, are 
 worthy of the place. The memoranda I have 
 made upon them, I shall be happy to submit to 
 you at Rastock. — "Every fee more truly paid 
 than the Turk's tribute," we once moreentered 
 the park, and Ccelebs, after a long reverie, 
 exclaimed.—" To what purpose does all this 
 magnificence tend ! Might not all those acres 
 which now serve for the maintenance of a 
 few deer only for ornament, or for the pam- 
 pering of-a vitiated palate, be better employed 
 in a more useful agriculture. What is now 
 of service to increase the importance of an 
 individual might then give bread to hundreds. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 7 
 
 and- the vast extent which now scarcely 
 bears any thing, might smile with life and 
 happiness." " You do not seem to consider," 
 said I, "that in rewarding a person to whom 
 the country was certainly greatly indebted, it 
 was thought right to raise a monument of its 
 own liberality, to be an incentive to after- 
 ages, to act so glorious a part.*' 
 
 "I am not objecting," replied he, "to the 
 original grant, though I think that very far 
 from unobjectionable. — The talents of the 
 first possessor do not descend with the entail; 
 and I do not believe, that the sight of 
 Blenheim has made one Marlborough. I 
 could wish to see inculcated a more generous 
 thirst of fame, a more noble motive for action 
 than the rewards of palaces and pensions. AVe 
 have the examples of the ancient republics, 
 whose statesmen and defenders after exerting 
 their talents and valour in the service of their 
 country, have returned to mix with their 
 fellow citizens, rich only in their own and 
 their country's applause and estimation. — 
 But to return to our original position, are 
 
3 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 these immense enclosures of service, or a 
 detriment to the country?" We now found 
 ourselves at the door of the Bear Inn, and 
 were we found that our dinner had been 
 waiting some time. This broke up our 
 argument for the present, and I shall close 
 my letter with best remembrances to all kind 
 enquirers, and with assurance of truest 
 regard, 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 9 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Woodstock, Oxoii. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 After dinner, our friend Coelebs re- 
 turned to his argument. — "Are these im- 
 mense possessions when so employed, service- 
 able, or prejudical to the state? You know 
 I am not fond of an argument, and parti- 
 cularly after dinner." I now recollected that 
 he had frequently, in the course of our 
 journey, hinted his objections to the great 
 enclosures we had passed. " I cannot bear," 
 said he, 
 
 " To mark the beauties of the wide domain, 
 " Which half a county scarcely can contain." 
 
 I answered him in the accommodating 
 style of the much admired Spectator, " There 
 was much to be said on both sides;" which 
 as it gave up the subject to him ; he thus 
 continued, and let me into the original source 
 of his objection. 
 
10 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 "Ill my opinion, on this subject," said he, 
 " I am not singular. In Wiltshire, adjoining 
 the estate of my good friend, Sir John Beau- 
 field, is the splendid mansion and domain of 
 the Earl of Stantley. The estates and honors 
 have passed in a direct line from father to 
 son for several generations, and the large 
 fortunes of more than one heiress have added 
 much to its original extent. The present 
 earl's grandfather was reckoned, and I believe 
 justly, to be a man of great taste. — He had 
 been in Italy, and on his return, brought 
 with him artists of every description, under 
 whose direction, the present villa was built. 
 At the same time, no expence was spared to 
 enlarge and beautify the park. The river 
 which flowed through, what was then, a 
 populous village, was converted into a 
 spacious lake. The village, as its situation 
 T\as too near the house, was removed to 
 another spot; though I would not have you 
 suppose, that the interests of its inhabitants 
 was neglected. Another was built on a 
 regular plan, forming a street from the prin- 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 11 
 
 cipal entrance gates, and uniting as an 
 appendage to the building, combining every 
 advantage of use and beauty. His son 
 inherited his taste with the means of exerting 
 it, and finished those plans which had already 
 been commenced upon. — The house and 
 park were now considered as models of 
 elegant refinement, but here ended their 
 merit and their use. 
 
 " The present earl married at the age of 
 twenty- three, in the life- time of his father, 
 He had enjoyed the confidence, and lived in 
 habits of the greatest intimacy with the late 
 Duke of Bedford ; from him he had learned 
 to appreciate the benefit to be derived from 
 a more enlarged and better understood 
 system of agriculture ; and laboured with 
 him, to produce so desirable an end. From 
 him he learnt his favorite maxim, 'Xothing 
 can be good that is not useful.' 
 
 " After his marriage, he bought a small 
 estate, near to his friend in Bedfordshire, 
 and carried on his experimental farming, 
 in a way highly, creditable to his talents and 
 
\'2 CffiLEBS SUITED. 
 
 his industry; upon his accession to the 
 honor and estates of his ancestor, Stantley 
 House changed at once its character. Having 
 parted withhis farm in Bedfordshire, and trans- 
 ported to Stantley his implements of agricul- 
 ture, his patent ploughs, patent harrows, and 
 instruments of every description ; he im- 
 mediately gave orders to make every thing 
 subservient to his favorite schemes. The 
 large woods of forest and alpine trees, which 
 formed a boundary to the northward of the 
 estate were cut down, and in their place 
 some thousands of firs were planted, timber, 
 which for the demand of farming, in the 
 erection of sheds and out- houses, he 
 was told, had a decided advantage. The 
 lawn in front of the principal facade, was 
 converted into a ploughing experiment 
 ground. The lake, suffered once more to 
 meander in its natural channel, and the 
 land brought again into cultivation. — But, I 
 fear, I tire you with description ; though 
 I allow, that the subject is with me, a 
 favorite one." 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 13 
 
 "Not at all," said I, "I have listened 
 
 with great attention, though I by no means 
 subscribe to his lordship's system. Pray 
 what family has he ?" " To you, Sir George," 
 said he, " who have never fell the passion of 
 love, who indeed consider it a weakness;"' — 
 " Excuse me," said I, interrupting him. 
 "you mistake both my opinions and feeling 
 on this subject; I respect the state of 
 matrimony, and consider it as capable 
 of bestowing the highest felicity, or being 
 productive of the greatest misery. For my 
 own part, I neither seek nor avoid it, and I 
 candidly own to you, that I never yet saw 
 the woman, in whose power I would trust 
 my happiness.*' " Nor have I," returned he, 
 " but I fear you will laugh at my romance, 
 and treat my understanding with less respect 
 than formerly, when I disclose to you my failing 
 — Having for a length of time corresponded 
 with you with the greatest unreserve. I will 
 own to vou, that the character of Lord 
 Stantley s eldest daughter, Lady Priscilla, has 
 taken entire possession of me. Lady Beau- 
 
14 CCELEBS SUITED 
 
 field has often described her to me. and in 
 holding her up to the imitation of her 
 daughter has fascinated me; she has not 
 thrown away her time in acquiring those arts 
 which the world terms accomplishments, as 
 she neither paints, nor plays, nor sings ; but 
 in improving an understanding naturally 
 excellent, by reading, and the study of our 
 best writers. Her mother's example has 
 operated to make her an excellent manager, 
 and complete mistress of domestic arrange- 
 ments ; the proper sphere of woman, and in 
 which she greatly excels. To me, she seems 
 to fill correctly the station Providence has 
 assigned to her sex, and to be the woman to 
 whom I could devote myself." 
 
 " I must confess," replied I, smiling, "that 
 I no more agree to his Lordship's system of 
 education for the daughter of an earl, than I 
 do to his converting his lawn into a plough- 
 ing ground. Is she an only daughter ?* 
 "No," said he, " he had two daughters 
 before he left Bedfordshire, Lady Priscilla, 
 who is now nineteen, and Lady Hebe, who is 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, i 15 
 
 one year younger ; and he has a son, twelve 
 years old."' — We found our conversation had 
 carried us far through the evening. — I 
 thanked Ccelebs for his candour and con- 
 fidence, and after taking a light supper, we 
 retired to bed. 
 
 We agreed to leave Woodstock early, and 
 to get to town by easy stages. — I have 
 exhausted my paper, and I fear your patience, 
 but I was anxious to give you this trait of 
 our worthy friend. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
16 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Cha. RASTOCK,Esq, 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I have only time to inclose to you, my 
 good fellow, Dermot's letter, and to request 
 you will do me the favor to act as you think 
 proper towards the poor sufferers. 
 
 The mare you will order to be shot, if you 
 find her so bad as Dermot describes, and if 
 so, tell him to bury her under the great 
 chesnut-tree, to the right of the cascade. — 
 She carried my poor mother nearly to the 
 day of her death ; and is, as he says, one of 
 my earliest acquaintances. 
 
 Excuse this trouble. I will write more at 
 length in a day or two. 
 
 Jermyn Street, St. James's. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Geo. Rover, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 17 
 
 Dermot O'Xiel, to Sir Gecrge Rover, 
 Bart. 
 
 Fairland Hall. 
 
 Your Honor, 
 
 We are all pretty well, though the 
 occasion of this present writing is to inform 
 you, that the grey mare is taken dangerously 
 ill ; I have spoken to Dr. Garlick, but I fear 
 we can make nothing of her at all, but shoot 
 her. — Poor soul 1 she is one of your Honor's 
 oldest acquaintances, and has done her duty 
 in this dirty world. But this is not all, at 
 all, at all; we have been sadly bothered with 
 these floods ; the three cottages at the bottom 
 of the little close, where Pat'Fallop and 
 Dennis CKDoole. and the old widow Turtle 
 lived, have been all demolished, clean out of 
 sight and all inhabitants washed out as clean 
 as a fresh skinned potatoe. I have had the 
 great barn cleared out and divided for them. 
 
IS COELEBS SUITE©. 
 
 and have rigged them out as well as I could. 
 — The old widow has caught a terrible ague 
 infection; but I hope I have nearly cured her- 
 with some of your Honor's best whiskey ; she 
 takes it most kindly ; I think, observing its 
 good effect on an old woman, I cannot help 
 wishing that the poor mare would take it too. 
 Ah ! your Honor, the old mare no more 
 nor none of us has been quite right since your 
 Honor went away, Besides, this, Phelin 
 O' Whack has been drawn for a militia-man, 
 and his wife and two children, have come 
 here for a lodgment during his absence. I 
 have put them into the cottage, at the back 
 of the dairy-house, which has been empty 
 ever since poor Kate went to the hospital, to 
 be cured of her dropsy. Phelin says, your 
 Honor told him, you thought him an honest 
 fellow, and that you always considered his 
 children as your own ; indeed for a matter 
 of that, your Honor is so kind, and so bene- 
 volent, that all the parish look upon you as 
 the father of their children. — the blessing of 
 St, Patrick on you — 
 
CALEBS SUITED, 19 
 
 I hope, your Honor, will give me a speedy 
 answer, as what with the grey mare, the 
 widow, and Phelin's wife, I have more on my 
 hands than my poor abilities can manage. 
 
 I am, your Honors humble servant, 
 
 Dermot ONeii. 
 
 
20 .CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to C. Rastock, Esq, 
 
 Jermyn Street, St. James 8, 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I thaxk you, most truly, for your 
 kind attention to my poor tenants at Fairland. 
 — The mare's loss, in my absence, I rather 
 regret. I have a curious epistle from Der- 
 mot, with a description of the funeral, which 
 we will laugh over when I have the pleasure 
 of meeting you at Rastock. 
 
 I am glad your little boy has recovered 
 his alarming attack. I will now continue 
 my journal of operations. — While breakfast 
 was preparing at Woodstock, we were amused 
 with a party of the Warwick militia, who 
 were quartered here last night, and were 
 starting for their day's march. They were a 
 fine body of men, and every way well 
 appointed. 
 
 An incident occurred which strongly marks 
 our friend's character. The bill being pro- 
 duced, Coeleb examined it most scrupulously, 
 and discovered that twopence was charged 
 
CCELE3S SUITED. 21 
 
 for eggs, for our first morning's breakfast, 
 which we had not had ; after some altercation, 
 for the landlord was not willing to cede 
 the point, least we should suppose it an 
 intentional act of fraud, the charge was 
 withdrawn, and the bill settled. 
 
 "I cannot bear," said he, when we were 
 alone, " to be imposed on." 
 
 u I give thrice as much 
 To any well deserving friend ; 
 But in the way of bargain, — mark ye me, 
 I'll cavil for the ninth part of a hair." 
 
 The chaise was announced, we descended 
 the stairs, and at the bottom we found a 
 grenadier supporting a woman, who appeared 
 in a very weak state. Our friend enquired 
 kindly, if she was unwell ? the soldier touch- 
 ing his cap ; answered, in the most modest 
 and respectful manner: — "This poor woman, 
 Sir, is my mother. My father died when I 
 was only eight years old. By her single 
 exertion, she brought me up, 'till I was able 
 in my turn to assist her. — We have laboured 
 together ever since, and have supported our- 
 
22 CGELEBS SUITED. 
 
 selves, in comfort and credit. At the last 
 ballot, I was drawn for the county militia; 
 we could not bear the idea of parting, but 
 she has sunk under the fatigue, of travelling, 
 and I fear it will prove too much for her. — 
 I am waiting to see the ^commanding officer, 
 in the hope of procuring for her a better 
 conveyance." The poor woman said not a 
 word, but her looks spoke most forcibly 
 for her. 
 
 Coelebs slipt a guinea into the man's hand, 
 and hurried me with him to the carriage. 
 The boys were mounted, the door shut, the 
 landlord, landlady, waiters, and others, were 
 making their conge\ when the drivers were 
 suddenly called to, to stop, and the door was 
 quickly opened by the soldier. " I beg 
 pardon, Gentlemen," said he, " for stopping 
 the carriage, but I think you have made 
 a mistake, in giving me a guinea instead of a 
 shilling." I shall never forget my own 
 feelings at the moment; but how much more 
 were those of our good friend to be envied. 
 M No, my honest fellow," said he, "I did not 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 23 
 
 mistake, and besides, here is my direction, 
 which I forgot to give you, and if you want 
 my assistance, don't fail to ask it." I begged 
 to add my donation to that of Coelebs. The 
 door was again shut, the carriage in motion, 
 and we reached Oxford, without a word 
 being spoken. — How exactly does this man, 
 thought I, obey the injunction of our blessed 
 Saviour. 
 
 " And when thou doeth alms, 1ft not thy left hand 
 know -what thy right hand doeth." 
 
 I asked for your nephew, Jack, at Christ 
 Church; but found that he was absent for a 
 few days. As I intended to spend some time 
 with him, on my return, we hastened our 
 departure, and arrived in London at five 
 o'clock. 
 
 I shall dispatch this, to let you know that 
 I am still in the land of the living. Con- 
 gratulate your dear lady from me, on the 
 recovery of your little charmer, 
 
 And believe, &c. Sac. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
24 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Jermyn Street, St. James's. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I take as early an opportunity as I 
 possibly can of continuing my correspon- 
 dence. — We are here most comfortably 
 lodged. On entering the sitting-room, 
 Coelebs took me by the hand and said, 
 '•'You have done me the honor, Sir G. 
 of becoming my inmate, and I hope you will 
 consider yourself as quite at home. Our 
 evenings, I trust, we shall generally spend 
 together, but as there is much to see for 
 the time you propose to stay, I shall place 
 my carriage entirely at your disposal for the 
 mornings, and the coachman will wait upon 
 you for orders. — To-morrow, indeed, I have 
 business in the city, where perhaps, you will 
 have no objection to accompany me." I 
 thanked him for his kindness, dinner was 
 shortly after announced, and we remained 
 at home for the rest of the evening. He is 
 
CGELLEBS SUITED. 25 
 
 in furnished apartments, sufficiently large to 
 enable him to accommodate a friend. 
 
 At eleven o'clock next morning, the 
 carriage came to the door, and we soon 
 found ourselves in such a throng of coaches, 
 chariots, aiss, wagons, and carts, as I never 
 before witnessed. For the whole length of 
 the streets, called the Strand and Fleet-street, 
 the principal entrance to the city, I thought 
 my bones in jeopardy, and had plentiful 
 occasion to admire the skill of our coach- 
 man. The situation of London, you are 
 acquainted with from better descriptions then 
 I can give you. In real cleanliness, in the 
 regularity of the paving, in the convenient 
 and plentiful supply of water, it is superior 
 to most capital cities, but as far as I can yet 
 judge it is most miserably deficient in beauty; 
 not that it is wanting in buildings, or oppor- 
 tunity to give it character and effect, but the 
 former are so surrounded with houses, and 
 so little attention has been paid to their being 
 seen after they have been built, that I wonder 
 how any set of sensible men, could so 
 
2t> CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 foolishly part with their money. This remark 
 holds good with regard to almost every build- 
 ing of note. St. Paul's Cathedral, the metro- 
 politan church of England can be seen, as a 
 whole, from no one point of view. The 
 building itself is of a magnitude to require 
 an area equal to that before the church of 
 St. Peter at Rome ; but here, you cannot see 
 even the second tier of columns, without the 
 hazard of dislocating your neck, or receiving 
 the contents of a porter's load on your 
 stomach, from your inattention to the swarms 
 of people who are continually passing. 
 The Mansion House, the Bank, the Royal 
 Exchange, theEastlndia House are allin the 
 same predicament, and I am sure, that the 
 only time to obtain a competent idea of the 
 style of architecture of these several buildings 
 is to make your observations at five o'clock 
 in the morning, or at least, long before the 
 business of the day begins. I am confident, 
 that if a thorough-bred Londoner was to see 
 any of these buildings, when removed to a 
 more open situation, he would not know 
 
C(£L£B5 SUITED. 
 
 27 
 
 them, for he never has been able to con- 
 template them at leisure. 
 
 What folly then to talk of embellishing a 
 city by such means, a twentieth part of the 
 money judiciously employed would have 
 done more good. 
 
 Our friend"s first business was at the Bank, 
 Here they have been employed for years in 
 undoing what had taken years to do; and 
 have laid out immense sums in erecting an 
 ornamental wall at the back of the building, 
 which will never be seen, but by those whose 
 curiosity leads them out of the way to vievr 
 it. As I before said, this is not the way to 
 improve the taste of a people, or to beautify 
 a c i t y. — A single ornamented column, pos- 
 sessing all the necessary requisites of just 
 proportion, excellent sculpture, and appro- 
 priate situation, would much sooner answer 
 the purpose. 
 
 Description can never exactly convey the 
 character and effect of a building. I shall, 
 therefore, purchase the best prints I can 
 procure of the principal ones, and make my 
 
£o CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 remarks on them for our mutual amusement, 
 when we have the happiness to meet. 
 
 Ordering the carriage to follow, we walked 
 from the Bank to the India House. The 
 inconvenience we felt from the pressure of 
 the croud, would not allow me time to 
 examine the front of the Royal Exchange as 
 it appeared to deserve. The India House 
 has lately been rebuilt, and does great credit 
 to the architect. According to Pennant, 
 (speaking of the one pulled down,) "It was 
 not worthy of the Lords of Indostan." The 
 new r erection, however, is creditable to their 
 liberality, and will be to their taste, if they 
 purchase the houses in front of it, and afford 
 it the area it requires.— In returning, we 
 walked as far as St. Paul's church, admiring 
 the vast profusion of costly and elegant 
 wares, displayed in the shop windows ; and 
 taking our carriage there, we returned to 
 Jermyn Street. Tis much to be regretted, 
 for the beauty of the town, that it has spread 
 solely on the north side of the river, while 
 the banks, instead of affording a cheerful and 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. %9 
 
 healthy walk as in Paris, in Petersburg, and 
 Dublin, are croudeci with wharfs for coals 
 and timber, and present every annoyance of 
 smoke and filth. I am told many persons 
 remain all the season in London without 
 seeing the Thames, and never pass over the 
 bridges, which are remarkably handsome, 
 but on entering or leaving the metropolis. 
 On our return, we found a card from Lady 
 Beaufield, for dinner on Wednesday next, 
 Coelebs will introduce me there to-morrow 
 morning, and we are to make a walking day 
 of it. 
 
 Kindest remembrance to Madame, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
30 C&LEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart to C. Rastock, Esq. 
 
 Jermyn Street, St. James's. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 You have obliged me very much, by 
 your kind interference at Fairland. It is 
 only by endeavouring to ameliorate the con- 
 dition, and add to the comforts of the people, 
 that we can expect to subdue the spirit of 
 disaffection, and restore our country to the 
 blessings of confidence and peace. Yesterday 
 morning we walked to Sir John Beaufield's. 
 Her Ladyship received me with great polite- 
 ness, and our friend with much warmth of 
 affection. She was reading aloud, the Life 
 of Petrarch, to her eldest daughter, a young 
 lady of about eighteen ; I was very much 
 surprised to find her knitting a worsted 
 stocking. Ccelebs complimented her on her 
 industry, and progress she had made since 
 he had last the pleasure of seeing her ; she 
 was pleased with the attention, and told him, 
 "That she hoped to finish it, by Tuesday. — 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 31 
 
 the fellow had been done, some time, and I 
 expect," said she, "to complete a pair of 
 gloves, by the time we return to Beaufield 
 Lodge, as a present to an aged attendant of 
 my mamma's." — "We think, Sir," said Lady 
 Beaufield, addressing herself to me, "that 
 in employing our time, in thus administering 
 to the wants of our poor neighbours, and at the 
 same time enjoying the pleasure of reading, 
 and social conversation, we act the part of 
 rational creatures." You know, as I said be- 
 fore I hate an argument, especially with 
 system-mongers; I therefore assented to the 
 justice of her Ladyship s observation, and paid 
 her a compliment on her courage in adopting 
 it. Then, turning to Ccelebs, "Mr. Coelebs/' 
 said she, "We called yesterday at Lord 
 Stantley's, he wishes much to see you." 
 Ccelebs recollecting our late conversation,, 
 appeared a little confused. Her Ladyship 
 continued, "We found Lady Pri-cilla at the 
 same employ as my Sophia, and it is sur- 
 prising how inimitably well she succeeds, 
 considering she has. only, practised ix for. two : 
 
32 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 years; she has nearly completed a pair, 
 Which, her father intends she shall present to 
 the Society of Arts and Sciences at the 
 Adelphi, and she expects to obtain the 
 gold medal." " If the utility of her employ 
 and the introduction of a just notion of the 
 value of time, deserve rewards, Lady Pris- 
 cilla certainly stands foremost amongst her 
 sex," said Ccelebs. " With talents equal to 
 attain the more shewy qualifications, she has 
 the sense to disdain them, and to suffer her 
 merit to rest on the innocence of her employ- 
 ments, and the usefulness of her life." — " She 
 has the satisfaction of knowing," said Lady 
 Beauneld, "that she enjoys the good opinion 
 of most people of sense ; and I know, that she 
 does not rank Mr. Ccelebs, among the least 
 warm of her admirers." " Her character," 
 replied he, " I really do admire, and I 
 regret that untoward circumstances have, as 
 yet, denied me the pleasure of seeing her." 
 
 The conversation now took .a general 
 turn. We talked of Ireland; and they 
 seemed well acquainted with its geography, 
 and natural productions. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. S3 
 
 Her Ladyship now rang the bell, and 
 desired the servant to tell Sir John that Mr. 
 Coelebs and Sir George Rover were there ; 
 but on hearing that he \^as in the library, 
 Coelebs desired the servant to inform him 
 that with fyis permission, we would wait on 
 him there, After spending a little more 
 time with the ladies, we took our leave, and 
 descended to the library. Sir John received 
 us in a very courtly manner, and enquired, 
 with much kindness after you, whom he 
 recollected to have met at Lord Clancard's, 
 when he was in Ireland, some years since. 
 I was very much surprised at the very un- 
 pleasant smell of the room, but I recollected 
 that in many of these houses, they have car- 
 ried the rooms out so near to the stables as 
 sometimes to be very offensive. Addressing 
 himself to me, " Sir George" said he, " I 
 should not have received you here, had I 
 had more notice of your intending me this 
 honor ; for the experiments I am employed 
 upon may give out an unpleasant effluvium, 
 which may be disagreeable. To me, who 
 
34 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 have been prosecuting the enquiry for near 
 six weeks, it is scarcely perceptible." I con- 
 fessed that I smelt something, that I could 
 not very well account for, considering the 
 airy and unincumbered appearance of the 
 house. " I am employed, Sir George," said 
 he, "in endeavouring to detect an error which 
 I think has crept into some deductions of my 
 friend, Lord Stantley's. — He has with much 
 pains and perseverance drawn up a paper 
 on the chemical properties of several kinds 
 of manure, which he will read at the next 
 agricultural meeting. At a chemical lecture 
 at the Royal Institution, my daughter, 
 Sophia, was struck by an experiment which 
 I thought affected a material part of his- 
 Lord^nip's theory ; I have employed myself 
 in endeavouring to ascertain it, before I 
 mention it to him ; and I think I have nearly 
 determined it." We then talked over the 
 politics of the day, which at present are 
 very interesting, and to some people, very 
 alarming. Sir John is no croakd, and feels 
 that the good sense and dispositions of the 
 
G<ELEBS SUITED, 35 
 
 people are a sufficient pledge for our national 
 security. 
 
 He is really a very clever man ; but this 
 principle of " utility ill understood," has so 
 •warped his judgement that he does not per- 
 ceive how very ridiculous he often appears. 
 
 As we walked towards home. " How 
 noble," said Coelebs, "is the character of 
 the Earl of Stantley ; instead of dissipating 
 the fortune which Providence has blessed 
 him with, in a course of riot and excess, he 
 employs his means and time in encouraging 
 the real sources of national grandeur and 
 prosperity. — He condescends to undergo the 
 fatigue of personally superintending his ex- 
 periments and directing the exertions of his 
 servants. His character as a christian is as 
 exemplary as his general conduct is praise- 
 worthy. — He feels the necessity of strictly 
 attending to the commands of the Gospel, 
 and enforces them with all his power among 
 his dependants : he would no more think of 
 travelling on a Sunday, than a man of ton 
 would think of abstaining from it." " If a peer 
 d % 
 
36 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 had no other duties to fulfil, nor any other 
 objects of study," said I, " I would allow 
 him to direct his attention to farming, or to 
 any other useful or innocent employment ; 
 but to my mind, with his rank and fortune, 
 a nobleman inherits higher duties and greater 
 responsibility. — i To whom much is given, 
 of him shall much be required.' — I could not 
 wish to see him a farmer, a painter, or a 
 musician, any more than I wish that he 
 should neglect either ; I would have him 
 to be a competent judge of all, but to 
 neglect neither. 
 
 " His great study should be to understand 
 the constitution and interest of his country; to 
 feel his consequence equally as a check on the 
 too great influence of the crown and the 
 overbearing spirit of the people; to exert 
 himself as the patron of arts and commerce, 
 by the respectability of his support, and the 
 liberality of his expenditure. In short, that 
 as a peer of parliament, he should act with 
 firmness and integrity towards his king and 
 country; and, as a man of fortune, with 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 37 
 
 generosity to those within his influence. 
 With regard to the latter part of your 
 encomium on his Lordship's character, I 
 entirely agree with you ; that the sabbath 
 day is not kept at all equal to my idea of pro- 
 priety; I would by every means discourage, 
 both by my own example and authority, the 
 system of making it a day for travelling, or 
 for carrying on the ordinary business of life; 
 at the same time that I should feel excused, 
 and excuse others too, when I saw it the 
 effect of great necessity. Our Saviour him- 
 self allows this, on healing the man afflicted 
 with the dropsy. I would even go further 
 than this, I would, especially, in the country, 
 make it a day of relaxation and innocent 
 enjoyment to that portion of mankind, 
 whose lot requires every alleviation. I would 
 suffer, and indeed encourage them, (always 
 expecting that they had attended the service 
 of the church) to amuse themselves at quoits, 
 or other pastimes. By adopting the op- 
 posite course, we have filled our barns with 
 fanatics, and our hospitals with lunatics.'' 
 
38 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 At a few paces from our own house, we 
 met the young Marquis of Heron. This put 
 an end to our argument; and I will here 
 end my letter, which I hope you will not 
 think insufferably long. 
 
 Best compliments to your good Lady 5 
 &c, &C-. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 39 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Chas. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 You are for ever adding to the 
 obligations I owe you, and I feel the in- 
 crease of them, whether near you, or at a 
 distance. 
 
 The Marquis of Heron no sooner heard 
 my name, than he recollected me as your 
 neighbour, and after enquiring with great 
 affection after yourself and all the family, 
 hoped to have the pleasure of seeing me 
 frequently during my stay in England; and 
 indeed he has almost promised to accom- 
 pany me on my return, in order to pay a 
 visit to you, of whom he entertains a very 
 high opinion. He dwells with great pleasure 
 on the time he spent at Rastock. For my 
 own part, I am so pleased with him, that I 
 fear I shall fill my letters with little else. — 
 He left us to keep an engagement he had 
 made, but promised to call next morning to 
 
40 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 accompany us to St. James's church. He 
 was punctual to his appointment, and we had 
 the gratification of hearing that excellent 
 man, and much admired preacher, Dr. 
 Andrews. To judge of the state of the 
 religion of the capital by the ardor with 
 which this gentleman is followed, might 
 perhaps lead us astray, his popularity is, 
 however, equally creditable to himself and 
 to his congregation. — His manner is nervous, 
 forcible, and convincing; his discourses 
 admirably arranged, and his introduction of 
 christian precepts always highly appropriate. 
 His elevation to this charge does honor to 
 the Bishop of the diocese. We returned to 
 Jermyn Street. Ccelebs said, " I admire 
 Dr. Andrews extremely, there is an unaffected 
 simplicity in his manner, which denotes the 
 elevation of his mind ; I am told too, 
 that he is a merry man." " He is," said the 
 Marquis : 
 
 11 The merriest man; 
 
 " Within the limits of becoming mirth, 
 "I ever spent an hour's talk withal." 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 41 
 
 Coelebs proposed a walk to Hyde Park, 
 which was agreed upon, to shew me the 
 beauties of their countrywomen; warning 
 me sit the same time of the danger to which 
 they exposing me, as the arrows of 
 
 C"i rid '.- in every direction from the elevated 
 seat of a barouche box to the level of the 
 scarce less shewv pedestrian. ■ I promised 
 to be on my guard, and indeed my attention 
 was for some time so well kept up in avoid- 
 in^ the crane-neck turns of some fashionable 
 charioteers, that I could think of nothing 
 else; when we had made our way through 
 the croud, the Marquis said, "This barouche 
 driving fashion is truly despicable. The 
 masters are most of them out-done by their 
 servants, whose dress and manners they 
 a p e# — The conversation is upon nothing but 
 their horses, and many of them, as Portia 
 says of her Neapolitan lover, ' Make it a 
 great appropriation of their own good parts, 
 that they can shoe them themselves." — I hope, 
 Sir George, you will not think it affected for 
 20 young a man to talk thus: my excellent 
 
42 CflBLEBS SILTED.. 
 
 father's precepts, I trust, I shall never forget 
 
 He was a great stickler for propriety in 
 every sense of the word, and he wished to 
 see every one in his proper sphere. — He 
 used to say, I consider the people of England 
 as an Egyptian pyramid, raising by true and 
 exact degrees from its broad base to its 
 summit; while this is kept in view, the 
 pyramids themselves will not be more durable, 
 but when one stone is displaced, the whole 
 is unsightly, and its ruin may be the con- 
 sequence. 
 
 The Duchess of Ormond passed in her 
 curricle; Col. Dashley was lolling indolently 
 by her side. 
 
 " Grace ful as John, she moderates the reins, 
 " And whistles s-.vect, her diuretic strains." 
 
 Said Coclebs. " A female,'' said I, "ought 
 never to place herself in a situation to call 
 forth such a quotation." "What can we 
 expect,*" said C celebs, " but that the Ladies 
 should follow the example of their Lords ; 
 the driving seat requires no mental exertion, 
 and the danger which is sometimes incurred. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 43 
 
 is immediately repaid by the admiration of 
 the spectators at the dexterity of the escape." 
 The Marquis enquired, if I had yet been 
 at the Opera. He regretted to hear that I 
 had not. " We had last night," said he, 
 "a most exquiste treat.— Catalani was in 
 fine voice, and Naldi inimitable ! this man's 
 humour surpasses every thing I ever heard ; 
 it does not consist in noise and buffoonery, 
 for he is always in an under tone, but he is 
 delicate and exquisitely finished. I am" 
 said he, " a great lover of music, and 
 acknowledge its force, from the simplest 
 ballad to the most difficult bravura. The 
 Opera as it affords the best we can have, I 
 never fail to attend. 1 know our friend, 
 Cceiebs is rather fastidious on this subject ; 
 but 1 hope to enlist yen on my side, and to 
 have the pleasure of your company in my 
 box, which will be always at your service, 
 during your stay in London." 
 
 The Marquis utters my sentiments so 
 exactly, that I had nothing to do but to bow 
 assent. 
 
44 C(ELEBS SUITED. 
 
 We returned time enough for afternoon 
 church at St. James's ; immediately after 
 which, leaving the Marquis at his house 
 in Piccadilly, we drove to Sloane Street, 
 to dine with Mrs. Morrison, an aunt of 
 Ccelebs'. He is engaged to call at Lord 
 Stantley's to-morrow, and has some other 
 business on his hands, which has induced 
 me to accept the Marquis's offer of acting 
 as my guide to the sights at Westminster ; 
 his rank will give us every access to all we 
 wish to see. He is really a very amiable 
 character. 
 
 I hope my affairs at Fairland have ceased 
 to give you the trouble, which I am much 
 vexed that my absence throws upon you. 
 
 Best compliments, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover 
 
C0ELEB5 SUITED. 45 
 
 Cha. Rastock, Esq. to Sir Geo. Rover, 
 Bart. 
 
 Rostock, near Limerick, 
 
 Dear Sir George, 
 
 I am just returned from Fairland, and 
 I think, I have nearly restored all things to 
 their original order. The cottages are re- 
 building on the spot yon pointed out, and 
 the damage done to the lower farm has been 
 repaired. 
 
 Tansy's case I have had a little difficulty 
 with, as his creditors were angry with him ; 
 I settled it, and replaced him in the farm ; 
 better stocked than before, and at a much 
 less sum than you had appropriated for it. 
 The remainder I will keep in hand to assist 
 " a at his going off. — I fear he has a natural 
 w j Jolence about him, which it is difficult for 
 him to overcome : if he does not now suc- 
 ceed we must think of something else for 
 him, for he is a worthy creature. 
 
 I am heartily glad you have met with the 
 Marquis of Heron, both on his own account 
 
46* CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 and yours ; he is a young man of the greatest 
 promise, and having arrived at the age of 
 twenty-four, without the least propensity to 
 extravagance or excess, I hope his country 
 will be much benefited by him. — 
 
 u I know him noble, 
 
 " Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth ; 
 " In voices well divulged, free, learn'd, and valiant, 
 "And, in dimension, and the shape of nature — 
 " A gracious person." 
 
 He was an only son, and his excellent 
 father spared neither pains nor expence in 
 his education ; 'till the age of thirteen he 
 kept him at home under a domestic tutor, 
 the present Bishop of this diocese. His 
 chiejf care was to give a proper bent to his 
 inclinations and pursuits, and to inculcate 
 the christian principle of his duty towards 
 God, and good-will towards man. At the 
 same time he encouraged him in great 
 bodily exertion, and in acquiring the accom- 
 plishments of riding, fencing, dancing, and 
 drawing, in all which he excels. He then 
 sent him to Eton school for three vears, 
 
 ^r 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 47 
 
 where he had the happiness to see him gain 
 the good opinion of his Bias his as- 
 
 siduity, and of his companions by his 
 spirit and courage. At sixteen he returned 
 home, and remained for three years more 
 under his father's roof, still attended by his 
 worthy tutor, and the best masters of the 
 living languages and elocution. He had a 
 natural taste for music, in which his father 
 freely indulged him, as a source of much 
 independent pleasure. He felt too all the 
 charms of painting, and his sketches from 
 nature are marked with great truth 
 spirit. It was during this interval that his 
 father visited Ireland, in company with his 
 son, and Dr. Hewitson. — They remained 
 nearly two months at Rastock, and I parted 
 with them with great regret ; he was at that 
 time just eighteen, rather tall of his age, and 
 in figure might have rivalled the statue 
 of Antinous. His form was of the finest 
 Grecian model, and his tine dark bine eyes 
 the most sparkling I ever beheld. 
 
 He Mt me to join a hunting party at 
 
48 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Lord ClaricarcTs; an amusement which hi? 
 father did not object to, as inspiring courage, 
 and inuring him to fatigue, though he re- 
 probated it when carried to excess, and made 
 the business of life. 
 
 At nineteen he was entered at Christ 
 Church, Oxford, where he remained three 
 years more, I am told, with great advantage. 
 His father then sent him on a tour to Peters- 
 burg, and to those courts from which the in- 
 fluence of Buonaparte had not then excluded 
 us ; before he left Humburgh, he recived 
 an express kr inform him of the good Mar- 
 quis's dangerous indisposition. He hastened 
 back ; when he arrived he found his father 
 a little better, but he lingered onlv two 
 months, leaving his son his blessing, and an 
 example of all that was amiable and good ; 
 He was never a robust man, and after a 
 long protracted debate in the House of 
 Lords, he had walked some distance to 
 his carriage, through a newly-fallen snow, 
 the ill-effect of which he never recovered. 
 
 Pray use all the influence you may acquire 
 
 l£S^2 
 
CGELEBS SUITED. 49 
 
 with him to induce him again to visit us ; io- 
 this all my neighbours will most cordially 
 join me, and especially his young friends, the 
 Hancourts. Dermot tells me he has written 
 +o you upon a very interesting matter ; he 
 
 a most kind-hearted deserving creature. 
 
 Mrs, Rastock desires to be most kindly 
 remembered to you, and begs to second me 
 in my invitation to the Marquis. 
 
 Yours, &c. &c, 
 Charles Rastock, 
 
SO CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 Dermot ONiel to Sir George Rover, 
 Bart. 
 
 Fairland. 
 
 Honored Sir, 
 
 Squire Rastock has been here, 
 and set us almost to rights again. The new 
 cottages are going on well, and so is Phelim's 
 wife; and Tansey is in his house again, and the 
 waters are gone down ; and the barley begins 
 to come up. Poor Phelinrs wife heard from 
 her husband last Thursday. She says, your 
 Honor must be a Saint, though she can't 
 find your name in the calendar. He does 
 not dislike soldiering at all, at all, and says, 
 its better work than ploughing, or digging 
 potatoes — more fool he. But I want to ask 
 your Honor a bit of advice ; Your Honor 
 knows my eldest daughter, Shelah; well, 
 Patrick Conod's son, at the Mill, has taken 
 a mighty fancy to her, and he's a stout 
 strapping lad, and his father well to do. 
 Shelah is a good girl, and asks my advice, 
 and I ask your Honor's? Old Patrick says, 
 
 =>T^3? 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 51 
 
 if your Honor will give him a fresh lease of 
 the mill, that he will give his son a smartish 
 bit of the trade ; and as I have had the good 
 fortune to save a few pounds in your Honor's 
 service, Shelah shan't go bare-foot to her 
 husband. I have no other news at present^ 
 only young Squire Hancourt has hurt his 
 hand by the bursting of a gun ; and the large- 
 white bitch has pupped. 
 
 I am, your Honor's, &c. 
 
 Dermot Q'Nisl. 
 
 e 2 
 
S% CCRLEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq, 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I enclose Deimot's letter, which 
 will explain what he wants, and I have 
 written to him, with my approbation of the 
 match- supposing the youth of age. If you 
 can make it convenient to see Conod, have 
 the goodness to say to him, that he shall 
 have a fresh lease of the mill at the old rent, 
 if his son marries Dermot's daughter. 
 
 I am delighted with your account of the 
 Marquis. Our sentiments accord so well, 
 that we seem to be old acquaintances 
 already. He came according to promise to 
 take me to Westminster. He had just 
 received a packet of tickets for the benefit 
 concert of a very favorite musical professor. 
 " I am exerting myself to make it known to 
 my friends," said he, " which wiil be quite 
 sufficient to procure the patronage we want. 
 He has a large family ; and his awful 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. . . 53 
 
 visitation, makes him now as much pitied as 
 he was formerly admired." We of course 
 agreed to go, and Coelebs took tickets for the 
 Beaufields, on whom he intended to call. 
 His Lordship's curricle was at the door; his 
 equipages are remarkably elegant, and well- 
 appointed; and he is an excellent whip, 
 without affecting the costume, or vulgarity 
 of a mail coachman. He begged Coelebs 
 to convey his compliments to Sir John and 
 Lady Beaufield ; and off he drove. 
 
 "Sir John Beaufield," said he, "I do not 
 know much of, though from my intimacy 
 with Coelebs, I have often been in his com- 
 pany. The system he has adopted of ( not 
 exactly excluding) but not encouraging those 
 arts which refine and embellish life, have 
 made his house and table a dull unvaried 
 scene of disputation. 
 
 He has taken Lord Stanttey for his model, 
 as her Ladyship is a copyist of Lady Stantley. 
 My good friend, Sir Wm. Pascon, who 
 remains still at Oxford, his father's will 
 fixing his majority at twenty-five, has an 
 
54 GMtyUm, spited. 
 
 estate. in. the neighbourhood-of his Lordship, 
 on which his mother and two sisters reside. 
 Lady Paston too has taken Lady Stantley for 
 her model, and Sir William tells me, that 
 nothing can be so dull, .as. the routine of their 
 life. Music and drawing are neither heard 
 nor seen ; dancing, of course, they have not 
 a sufficiently enlarged society for, so that the 
 day begins with work and reading, and ends 
 with work and reading, and this, as the 
 young ladies reside constantly in the country, 
 has made them unfit for town. They are 
 rather older than him, and really amiable 
 and sensible women : but seem now likely, 
 6 to live and die in single blessedness.' I 
 am sorry that he had not possession of his 
 fortune some years ago, as I think his good 
 sense would have drawn them out, but he 
 was a youth of great spirit, and his father 
 was afraid of him. 
 
 If the original has character, the copy is 
 generally a caricature. Observing my valet 
 while attending me, a few mornings since, 
 brimful of something that seemed greatly to 
 
CCE LEBS SUITED, 55 
 
 amuse him, and knowing him to be ' a fellow 
 of infinite humour,' I encouraged his well- 
 known turn for loquacity, when he surprised 
 and amused me not a little with the following 
 account ; but I should first let you know 
 that Lady Beaufield affects an independence, 
 and actually goes to market, and on these 
 occasions chuses to walk. ' A few mornings 
 since,' Sir, said he, 'Lady Beaufield was at 
 Phillip's, the fishmonger, in Bond Street, 
 at the same time that Lord Duncar ton's 
 house steward was there. They left the shop 
 at the same moment, and waited some time on 
 account of the press of carriages. The man, 
 who hearing the fish ordered to Lady Beau- 
 field's, mistook her Ladyship for the house- 
 keeper, addressed her familiarly with ' What 
 cursed dirty weather we have.' At the same 
 moment, thinking he saw an opportunity of 
 crossing the way, he caught her by .the arm; 
 and hurried her along with him. Indignant 
 at being thus addressed, and enraged at the 
 roughness of the action, she struggled to 
 loose herself, and unfortunately missing her 
 
56 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 footing, reeled, and fell into a heap of mud 
 which the scavengers had left for removal; 
 her daughter, who attended her, fainted ; her 
 Ladyship went into violent hysterics ; the 
 man, alarmed at the consequences of his un- 
 fortunate mistake, ran away, leaving them 
 to recover themselves as well as they could.'' 
 His story has, I dare say by this time, found 
 its way to every stewards' table in town, from 
 w T hich quarter, as you may well suppose, her 
 Ladyship meets with but little mercy. You 
 may imagine this account amused me at first, 
 but upon reflection excited my pity much more, 
 to think that people of so great fortune, and, 
 in other respects, good sense should expose 
 themselves to the chance of such indignities. 
 "I now," said the Marquis, " enter on my 
 duty as a ciceroni, and I am sorry I have so 
 little to praise, and such ample room to find 
 fault. The Palace I have passed without 
 comment, as nothing can be said in favor of 
 its exterior. Its apartments, however, are 
 convenient, and at these times it is prudent 
 to avoid the appearance of unnecessary 
 
CCELEB3 SUITED. 57 
 
 expence." We stopped opposite Carlton- 
 House. " Here now/' said he, " is a build- 
 ing whose principal ornament is its portico, 
 and the most enriched and beautiful part of 
 that is hid, by the interference of an unne- 
 cessary screen. The Prince has great tasle, 
 and when his funds are better, will, it is said, 
 remove this to the Park entrance, where it 
 will be a great ornament." I approved much 
 of the idea, for the enrichments of the pedi- 
 ment and cornice are very excellent, and 
 appear to me to be in good taste. 
 
 He themturned about his curricle : "You 
 remember" said he, "an elevated spot in 
 the Green Park, which C celebs pointed but 
 as having been fixed upon for the erection' 
 of the Naval Column. " — " I do," said I. — 
 " It was in contemplation," returned his 
 Lordship, "to have purchased and taken 
 down those few houses which now obstruct 
 the view into the Park, and the column 
 would have terminated the vista. The 
 Park- wall in Piccadilly was to have been 
 supplied by an : iron railing, and the pillar 
 
58 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 would have been seen with great effect from 
 the top of St. James's street. By the judi- 
 cious removal of a few trees, it would, from 
 the Horse Guards, have appeared to ter- 
 minate an avenue, and so situated, it would 
 likewise have been seen from nearly the 
 whole of Hyde Park, and Kensington 
 Gardens. The idea was an excellent one, 
 but the funds were never large enough to 
 carry it into effect.'* — He then took me to 
 St. Martins church. — "Behold," said he, 
 " another subject for grieving. Here is a 
 finer church than most capitals can boast, but 
 which no one can see. However I am told 
 that there is a plan for removing the Mews, 
 which is inconveniently situated, and much 
 out of repair, and building a handsome 
 square on the scite. The church will form 
 one side, and appear to great advantage." 
 We then stopped at the Admiralty, and very 
 much admired its elegant screen. Next to 
 the Admiralty is the Horse Guards, a large 
 unornamented building of hewn stone ; and 
 a little further down, on the same side of 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 53 
 
 the way, is the elegant residence of Lord 
 Melborne. The building opposite, is the 
 only remains of the once magnificent Palace 
 of Whitehall. It is from the designs of 
 Inipo Jones, and the ceiling is the work of 
 Ru ens. It is now used as a chapel for the 
 Guards. From one of the windows, the 
 unfortunate Charles the First walked to the 
 scaffold, a melancholy reflection on the 
 character of mankind, which visits the 
 vices and exactions of its tyrants on the 
 most unoffending and irresolute of its 
 u:onarchs. 
 
 " A little lower down," said the Marquis, 
 u the commissioners have unaccountably 
 missed an opportunity of greatly improving 
 this entrance to London. For the sake of 
 a paltry ground rent, they have suffered 
 those two houses to be built, and have shut 
 out the finest view of the Thames, having 
 Blackfriars bridge, and the river front of 
 Somerset-house, for the principal objects. — 
 The ground might even have been given to the 
 adjoining houses, obliging the proprietors to 
 
GO CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 lay it down as a terrace. 'Tis much to be 
 regretted, as at the same time immense sums 
 are expended in other places to obtain that 
 object." 
 
 We now arrived at the House of Lords. 
 As I shall read you a lecture upon all the 
 objects I think worth notice, and with the 
 assistance of views of the buildings, I shall 
 at present say but little about them. — There 
 is a commission with powers, to purchase, 
 for removal, any buildings they think right for 
 the improvement of this part of the town. 
 They have acted on a very broad scale, and 
 I think judiciously. This refers however to 
 what has been removed ; of what has been 
 erected nothing can be said that is too severe. 
 Thousands have been expended on a stuc- 
 coed gothic facade, the designs for which 
 nobody will now own, but the credit of it is 
 generally given to a lady of high rank. 
 AVhile I was regretting the execrable bad 
 style of the building, and the wretched taste, 
 -which could place such a specimen of 
 modem trash in the very front of the most 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 6l 
 
 beautiful and highly finished piece of gothic 
 architecture lever beheld; the exterior of that 
 part of Westminster Abbey, called Henry the 
 Seventh's chapel, the Marquis said, "The 
 days of gothic ignorance are, I hop;\ quickly 
 vanishing, but would you believe it possible, 
 that it was at one time in contemplation to 
 restore, as it was termed, the whole of this 
 front in plaister; a composition which has 
 had the experience of only a few years to 
 determine its durability." I shuddered at the 
 barbarous idea, and rejoiced to hear that it 
 had been abandoned. 
 
 " But these real improvements. 4 said I, 
 "are very creditable, and must, lam sure, 
 meet the people's applause, though they may 
 feel the expence." u The public purse," 
 said his Lordship, " is low, and its calls 
 are large and increasing, but there is a plan 
 which waits only for better times to be put 
 in practice, which will, in my opinion, be of 
 incalculable- service to the health of the 
 metropolis, and to its beauty; I will men- 
 tion it now, and shall be happy at some 
 
6% CCELEBS SUITE!). 
 
 future opportunity to point out the spots.— 
 Three large tracts of ground have been 
 determined upon to be appropriated (for I 
 believe they are all crown land) for the 
 recreatk a and amusement of the public, and 
 to be planted for the use of the navy ; one is 
 a spot called Tothill Fields, a large tract 
 lower down, which will be cleared and im- 
 proved for the benefit of this part of London ; 
 a large portion, including all the unoccupied 
 ground between the New Road, and includ- 
 ing Primrose Hill, for the advantage of the 
 upper parts of the town ; and a similar por- 
 tion to the eastward for the benefit of the 
 City. The north Park having Primrose Hill, 
 may from the inequality of the ground, be' 
 made very beautiful. Plans have been drawn 
 up for it, and I hope we shall soon see them 
 carried into effect." 
 
 We then walked through Westminster Hall, 
 the House of Lords and Commons, and the 
 Abbey, then re-mounting our carriage, 
 crossed the Thames, at Westminster Bridge, 
 and returned home over the bridge at Black- 
 friars. 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 63 
 
 I never spent a day more satisfactorily. 
 The good sense and good intentions of the 
 Marquis are evident in all he says and does, 
 his opinions are modestly delivered, but are 
 always the effect of reflection, and a clear 
 conception of the subject on which he speaks, 
 and his taste and feeling are genuine. 
 
 Adieu, my good friend, let me again thank 
 you for introducing me to this interesting 
 young man. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
t)4 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 We dined yesterday at Sir George 
 Beaufield's. The party consisted of Sir 
 John, his Lady, and Miss Beaurleld, the 
 Countess Villette, an elegant and amiable 
 French woman, and her friend, Miss Lamb, 
 Dr. Truman, Ccelebs, and myself. Sir John 
 is rather formal at his table, and the whole 
 establishment proceeds by settled rules more 
 strictly observed than the laws of the Medes 
 and Persians. We found the two younger 
 children in the drawing room, playing with 
 the Countess's little son of about five years 
 old i the eldest, a fine boy of four years, and 
 his little sister of a year younger. As the 
 Countess kissed the little girl, a tear started 
 in her eye. I was told afterwards that she 
 had lately lost a daughter. The children 
 were amusing themselves with dissected 
 maps. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 65 
 
 Coelebs enquired of Miss Beaufield after 
 the progress of her stocking, which she had 
 not been fortunate enough to complete as 
 she expected; and I found too, that Sir 
 John had not quite detected Lord Stantley's 
 chemical error, or finished his useful experi- 
 ment, • Dinner was announced, and I was 
 glad to find^ myself seated next the amiable 
 Countess ; she speaks English rather fluently, 
 but when wishing completely to convey her 
 meaning, has recourse to her native language, 
 "I think," said Sir John, " that the system 
 of 'the ancien regime,' in France was better 
 than ours. The settled and natural hour of 
 two o'clock, for the dinner of the whole city, 
 from the king to the lowest mechanic was, I 
 think, more sensible than protracting it to 
 the proper time of supper, and losing the 
 enjoyment of a rational afternoon." " Par- 
 donnez moi," said the. Countess, " I do not 
 exactly agree with you ; in my opinion, and 
 from my experience, I am inclined to give 
 the preference to the English mode of life. — 
 The system of a late dinner, if not carried 
 
 F 
 
; 
 66 ' CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 to great excess gives more time, -without 
 interruption, to the morning study and 
 employments ; and the evenings, chez vous, 
 generally passes in the elegant amusement of 
 music, or the charms of conversation." "As 
 I have never been in France," said Sir John, 
 " I am not competent to speak of the habits 
 and customs of the country." " The routine 
 of the day," said the Countess, " was seldom 
 varied. In Paris, the morning until dinner 
 was dedicated to seclusion and study ; this 
 meal was invariably fixed at tw r o o'clock, 
 after which we walked in the Champs Elysees 
 or Luxembourg, or took an airing in the Bois 
 de Boulogne. The Opera and theatres began 
 early, and finished in time for an early supper, 
 ■which was the repast of the most interest and 
 social enjoyment. But by this system the 
 family was not brought together sufficiently 
 early in the evening, nor was the morning 
 long enough for useful occupations. 
 
 "In the principal divisions of time, per- 
 sons of the same rank in life must necessarily 
 agree; in the occupation of that time they 
 
C(ELEBS SUITED. 6? 
 
 will differ, " said her Ladyship. " I do not 
 think," returned Sir John, " that the utility 
 of the employ is sufficiently considered, or 
 the value of our time properly estimated." 
 Coelebs agreed with Sir John, and instanced 
 some young ladies whose time was entirely 
 1 a <upied in acquiring accomplishments, to 
 the exclusion of more solid qualifications. — 
 " This is certainly wrong," said the Countess, 
 " as all excess is bad, but the rank in life 
 should determine the education." " I will 
 again repeat my idea, that nothing should 
 be taught that has not a useful end," said 
 Sir John, "and as musical professors can 
 be hired, as pictures and drawings can be 
 bought, I would not recommend those arts 
 to form a part of any education." " Est il 
 possible ! si vous etiez roi, Sir Jean," ex- 
 claimed the Countess, "nous aurions un 
 palais sans ornemens et une cour sans 
 delices." This system has excluded all 
 conversation on those, to me, delightful arts ; 
 we talked a little upon politics ; a little upon 
 Ireland, and a little about you and your 
 f 2 
 
68 CGBLEBS SUITED. 
 
 family, with frequent references by Sir 
 John and his Lady to the dispensations of 
 Providence, and the advantages and necessity 
 of religion. 
 
 I do not like those constant repetitions, 
 especially when no end is in view. The 
 subject is here too frequently introduced t&e 
 table. You know my notions on this 
 subject, and I am now more settled in my 
 opinion, that the effect is weakened by its 
 frequent introduction. Do not think I 
 mean to flatter you, but I really know no 
 house where the true moment of introducing 
 it is so well understood as at your's, and I 
 never have received more edification from 
 any discourse then I have from your's and 
 your dear Lady's, flowing mutually from the 
 question under discussion, and not weakened 
 by its constant recurrence. 
 
 Dr. Truman is almost a silent man, but 
 there is an animation in his countenance that 
 speaks an interest in the conversation, and 
 his few observations are always listened to 
 with respect, and heard with advantage. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 69 
 
 Z\Iis3 Lamb who possesses many of the 
 acquirements she had just heard condemned, 
 remained modestly silent ; Miss Beaufield is 
 of course a true disciple of her mother, and 
 took some little share on that side of the 
 
 o< ion. When we went into the drawing- 
 room, we had again the pleasure of seeing 
 the children, who had not been admitted to 
 the eating-room, a custom I never saw 
 adopted before, except at your house, and 
 which cannot be too much praised, whether 
 the health of the children, or the comfort of 
 the guests is considered. 
 
 During coffee Dr. Truman was regretting 
 the French revolution, and its unfortunate 
 termination, after exhibiting so long a series 
 of crimes and folly. " Ah !" said the Coun- 
 tess, "I fear we have much to thank you 
 for as the means of disseminating a great 
 share of that discontent which originally 
 produced it." " You surprise me, Madame 
 la Comtesse ) , ' said Sir John, " at the charge 
 you now make against us — I thought that 
 England was always considered as the chief 
 
70 CffiLEBS SUITED. 
 
 support of the falling fortunes of the unfor- 
 tunate House of Bourbon." "I do not," 
 said the Countess, " speak of the later 
 occurrences of those unhappy times, I am 
 regarding the source of our misfortunes. 
 Your writers, even those of the greate:y 
 celebrity, whose works had been imported in 
 great numbers, both in their native tongue, 
 and translated into ours, had been read with 
 great avidity. They had almost universally 
 charged us with the greatest baseness and 
 meanness of character, and had lavished 
 upon us every epithet that could degrade 
 and villify man. Your authors, both in prose 
 and verse, had attacked us, evenyour amiable 
 and kind-hearted poet, Cowper, had joined 
 against us: he says of our countrymen, — 
 
 " We never feel the alacrity and joy, 
 " With which he shouts and carols Vive le Roi ; 
 " Fill'd with as much true merriment and giee, 
 " As if he heard his King say, — Slave be free." 
 
 "I fear," said Dr. Trueman, " the 
 Countess is too much for us; to make our 
 people contented at home we have spread dis- 
 
CffiLEISS SUITED. 71 
 
 content abroad, and promoted, I will not say 
 produced, great disturbances." The Countess 
 continued, " Count Villette," said she, 
 " was very fond of England, and of English 
 authors. He understood the language well, 
 and has often pointed out passages which 
 could only wound sensible minds, and 
 lead astray weak ones." Knowing the 
 custom of the house, she now ordered in 
 her embroidery; Miss Lamb produced a 
 purse she was employed upon; Lady Beau- 
 field took a book, and Miss Beaufield 
 her stocking. Sir John, Dr. Truman, 
 Ccelebs, and myself, formed a rubber at 
 whist, and our evening was enlivened by 
 the anecdotes and lively conversation of the 
 Countess. At a little after ten, Sir John's 
 chariot came to the door for her and Miss 
 Lamb, they immediately prepared to depart, 
 and finding myself next to her, I could not 
 resist the impulse I felt to hand her to the 
 carriage. Yours, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
72 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Chas. Rastock, 
 Esq; 
 
 Jermyn Street, St. James's. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I broke off my last letter without 
 taking leave of Sir John or his family, 
 for I had still much to say, and I left 
 it for the subject of another epistle, least I 
 should weary you. 
 
 When I returned to the drawing-room, 
 Sir John rallied me on my attentions to the 
 interesting foreigner, but wondered I did 
 not rather attach myself to Miss Lamb, 
 "Though," said he, " I should recollect that 
 my neighbour, Sir William Paston, would 
 dispute that prize with you, and I believe 
 with a strong party in his favor with the 
 object of contention." "I professed my 
 admiration of the appearance and good sense 
 of Miss Lamb, but owned I felt more 
 interested by her amiable friend. 
 
 "Her story," said Sir John, " is unhappy 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 73 
 
 and affecting, but her fortitude is great, and 
 her just sense of religion always supports 
 her. Her father resided with great pomp in 
 one of the finest provinces of France, and 
 employed a large fortune in supporting a 
 splendid hospitality. He had only one son 
 and one daughter, the present Countess, 
 who married at the age of seventeen, as it was 
 too much the custom at that time, a wealthy 
 neighbour, but of an age, that could not 
 render him an agreeable companion for so 
 young a woman. However, he died in a 
 few years, and left her at the age of twenty, 
 in possession of an immense fortune. On 
 such occasions, it was customary for the 
 widow to place herself as a boarder at a 
 convent, and under that cover, indulge 
 abroad in all the gaiety and dissipation of 
 the vicious capital. — Not so, Madame Beau- 
 jou ; she returned to her father's house, and 
 once more consigned herself to his protection. 
 Here she had formerly seen the young Count 
 Villette, who left France a short time before 
 her marriage, to place himself in the service 
 
74* - CALEBS SUITED. 
 
 of one of the German princes. On his 
 return, he found her again at her father's 
 house ; and after a short time, they married. 
 Nothing could exceed their mutual happiness, 
 and their pleasures were increased by the 
 birth of a son and daughter. 
 
 The little boy is the same you saw to-day ; 
 the girl is lately dead. Upon the dispersion 
 of the great families of France, they fled to 
 England. Her father and mother were dead, 
 and her brother fell a. victim to the fury of 
 the times. The family were protestants; her 
 mother was an Englishwoman, and a near 
 relation of Mr. Lamb's, the father of the 
 young lady, who is on a visit to her ; so that 
 her connections here soon placed her on a 
 comfortable footing. On the formation of 
 the late expedition to the coast of France ; 
 the Count having borne arms, could not do 
 otherwise than place himself under the com- 
 mand of their gallant leader, though he 
 despaired of any good resulting from the 
 attempt. On the landing, he received a 
 mortal wound, and lived only to set his foot 
 
 J3P» 
 
CALEBS SUITED. 75 
 
 on his native land. He had a strong pre- 
 sentiment that he should not return, and 
 before he left England requested to see the 
 young Marquis of Heron, who had been his 
 most intimate friend, since he left France. — 
 The Countess was present; taking the Mar- 
 quis by the hand, "My Lord," said he, "your 
 kindness to me since my arrival in England, 
 a foreigner and a fugitive, without the means 
 or the hope of being able ever to repay the 
 obligation, has sunk deep in my heart. I can- 
 pay you only by thanks, but the conscious 
 satisfaction of your own breast, and the sense 
 of divine approbation will be your reward. 
 The call of my country forces me now to 
 leave to the care of others, a charge, which 
 is dearer to me than life, but which I can only 
 deserve by not forfeiting my honor. The 
 sense I have of the high principles, which 
 you my Lord, who have done me the honor 
 to call me friend, are actuated by, has in- 
 duced me to request that I may place in your 
 care tliir precious charge. My life ! my hope ! 
 my happiness \" The Marquis accepted the 
 
76 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 trust," and cheered him with the hope of a 
 speedy and victorious return. "I will hope so 
 too," said the Count, "but my mind sadly mis- 
 guides me. I have selected you, my Lord, 
 as my boy's youth will long want a protector, 
 and his spirit, an active guardian." At these 
 words • he sunk into a chair, leaving the 
 Marquis standing in a thoughtful pensive 
 posture. 
 
 The Countess left the room with the 
 greatest, emotion, and immediately re- 
 turned with her two children. The Count 
 ctarted from his seat, and taking the children 
 by the ^ hand — "These, my Lord," said he, 
 *' are the - pledges of an affection which no 
 time can destroy, nor any circumstance 
 abate. If I fall, to your care I leave them, 
 and by your advice will the Countess be 
 directed, for their future welfare." The 
 Count then embraced him, and taking a 
 brilliant from his finger placed it on that of 
 the Marquis, without uttering a word. They 
 once more embraced and parted, never to 
 meet as;ain. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 77 
 
 I thanked Sir John for the recital,, which 
 raised my admiration still more of the un- 
 fortunate stranger. On our preparing to 
 depart, Sir John informed us that Lord 
 Stantley's ploughing match was fixed for to- 
 morrow week. That he, Sir John, left town 
 on Tuesday for Wiltshire, in order to be 
 present, as it is a jubilee for that part of 
 the country, and -pressed us to accept an 
 invitation to his house. I saw on C celeb's 
 countenance a strong wish to join the party ; 
 for my part, I had much to see here, and I 
 dreaded that I should be obliged to join it 
 too. In our way home, he said, " Sir 
 George, our habits of intimacv demand 
 candour, and mine, I know, will not dis- 
 please you. I very much wish to join this 
 party, and I know that your inclination does 
 not lead that way ; will you do me the favor 
 to remain in Jermyn Street as in your own 
 house for a few days? I will endeavour to 
 return on Saturday." I insisted that I might 
 be no tie upon his movements, and told him, 
 that though I was sorrv to lose his comnanv. 
 
7S 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 yet I should regret still more, depriving him 
 of a pleasure for which I knew he had so 
 great a relish. It was then fixed that he should 
 leave town at the same time as Sir John. 
 
 With best remembrances to all my friends, 
 and your good Lady in particular, 
 
 Believe me, vours, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover, 
 
CQ1LEB3 SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I have had nothing particularly in- 
 teresting to relate, nor truly have I now ; 
 but you press me so much to write, that I 
 will indulge you at the same time that I 
 amuse myself. On Sunday morning the 
 Marquis called, and we again accompanied 
 him to St. James*s Church. The day 
 was wet, and we adjourned to Ccelcb's 
 apartments. 
 
 "We cannot too much praise our ex- 
 cellent liturgy," said Coelebs, " though I 
 could very much wish to see a portion of it 
 differently arranged. The lessons which are 
 appointed to be read, are on a calculation, 
 that the Old Testament is completed in the 
 course of the year, and the New oneoftener; 
 but this arrangement can never make people 
 acquainted with the Bible, as the greater 
 number so to church only on Sunday, and 
 
80 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 then only once. I have always remarked, 
 that daring the time of the lessons, unless 
 it happens that it is a very interesting one, 
 the ladies take their survey of the dress of 
 the congregation, or read the service of 
 matrimony; and the gentlemen play with 
 their gloves, or gold seals. I think the idea 
 of reading the whole through, should be 
 given up, and a selection made of the most 
 interesting for the use of the Sabbath." The 
 Marquis and I entirely agreed with him. His 
 Lordship said, " They have adopted in this 
 church, a very laudable plan, in assigning a 
 large space in the middle aisle for free seats. 
 Sir George Beaufield told me, that the death 
 of Lord Harcourt had given his parish some 
 hopes of being able to obtain the scite of his 
 house for the erection of a parish church; 
 and that they intend in that case, to appro- 
 priate not only a portion of the middle aisle 
 to free seats, but also the whole of the space 
 under the galleries. This situation for a 
 church would be almost the best in London. 
 It would stand, according to the canon, 
 
 «;,_£, 
 
■ c'oelebs- suited; Si 
 
 east and west, and would be. seen with great 
 advantage from the square, with the houses 
 in which, the front steps of the east portico 
 would range ; this arrangement would give 
 a sufficient area for a handsome open portico 
 in the west front also." 
 
 I mentioned the pleasure I had had in 
 meeting the Countess Villette, and the in- 
 terest her story had created in her favor. 
 " She is as deserving as she is unfortunate." 
 said the Marquis. Coelebs mentioned the 
 idea she had started that the writings of the 
 English had greatly promoted the French 
 Revolution. 
 
 • " I have no doubt of it," said he, "and 
 indeed the Countess has too much reason to 
 indulge the idea. — Count Villette had been 
 for a short time in England, and with a great 
 respect for the national character, had 
 acquired a strong impression of the ex- 
 cellence of our constitution. He was well 
 read in our best authors; and felt very mueh 
 galled at the reflections and sarcasms which 
 he everv where found in them on the 
 
82 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 character and habits of his country. Orf 
 his return to France, he was active in 
 endeavouring to promote a reform in some 
 of the most notorious abuses which existed 
 in that government, and was for a time 
 the idol of the people, but when he under- 
 took to stem the torrent of jacobinism and 
 fix some bounds to their demands, he was 
 heard with displeasure, and lost for ever their 
 confidence. How much, after the experi- 
 ence of the past, ought we to dread the 
 revival of such a cry in this country," said 
 Ccelebs. " Reform," replied the Marquis, 
 " is by some considered only as the cry of a 
 faction, while many, very many, see the 
 necessity of such a measure. — The difficulty 
 is how to reform ; Dr. Johnson has said> 
 and very justly, that it was impossible to 
 create a sufficient fund of public honesty. — 
 A lamentable truth ! In examining my 
 father's political papers, I found one which 
 contained a plan for a parliamentary reform, 
 by a note at the back it appeared, that he 
 at one time had submitted it to the heads of 
 
CGELEBS SUITED. 8S 
 
 the party with whom he generally acted ; I 
 know not why it was never "proposed for 
 adoption. 
 
 "It began by stating the influence which a 
 man of rank and wealth must necessarily 
 obtain over his less fortunate neighbour, and 
 the obligation such a one must lie under to 
 vote as his patron should direct. His name 
 appearing on the poll books, what can pro- 
 tect him from the resentment, and the loss 
 of the support and patronage of him whose 
 interest he has resisted from motives of the 
 most pure patriotism. This influence every 
 one must know will be always exerted, and 
 here is the principal obstacle to reform pre- 
 vented by the rich and powerful, and it 
 cannot be supposed that the mass of mankind 
 will sacrifice their means and livelihood to a 
 duty whose good consequences they see only 
 remotely, while from a ditferent conduct 
 they pmtt their daily bread. The conscience 
 is quieted by the reasouing of Sir Pertinax 
 Mac Sycophant, 'its only generosity o'the one 
 side and gratitude o"the other.' This holds 
 g 2 
 
$4 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 good even in county elections, where the 
 great landholder attaches large farms to 
 small freeholds, and reckons on the number 
 of votes he can command. The remedy he 
 proposed, was simple, easy to carry into 
 execution, and immediate in its effects. He 
 insisted on disfranchising all those boroughs 
 that had not five hundred voters ; and he 
 then proposed, that those votes should be 
 taken by ballot, as at the India House, or 
 private clubs. This seems likewise, to me," 
 continued the Marquis, " the only means of 
 acquiring a representation, uncorrupt in its 
 appointment, and independent in its prin- 
 ciples, for who would give a bribe, when he 
 could have no certainty of its influence ; or 
 risque a ballot, unless he knew that his 
 character and pretensions gave him a fair 
 chance of election. In this plan the hustings, 
 were to be continued as usual, the candidates 
 might harangue ; the populace might shout ;. 
 the ladies might dress> and the gentlemen 
 might drink ; nothing should be lost of the 
 shew and freedom of an election time ; all 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 85 
 
 which would be sacrificed if the ballot were 
 taken in separate parishes, as has been pro- 
 posed, but which never would satisfy the 
 people. The right to a voice would be tried 
 at the hustings before the voter gave his 
 suffrage; when that had been determined, the 
 name would be taken down, and he would 
 deposit a ball presented to him by the sheriff 
 cr superior officer, in that division of the 
 ballottin^ box destined to belong to the 
 
 candidate he thought most eligible, fcw**e4ted, 
 and consequently uninfluenced. The sheriff, 
 or other officer, with a gentleman deputed by 
 each candidate, would at the end of each 
 day's ballot, reckon the votes, and thus favor 
 and corruption would cease to exist. To 
 this plan the only opposition could arise from 
 those who now possess the power and the 
 influence; an influence always unjustly 
 exercised, whether for a deserving candidate 
 or otherwise, but too frequently perverted 
 to faa r f those whose only intention in getting 
 into parliament is to share in the good things 
 to be obtained, or to screen themselves from 
 
$6 GCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 the just indignation of their creditors, and 
 the horrors of a jail. 
 
 " The more I have considered this idea," 
 said the Marquis, "the more I am confirmed 
 in its efficacy. The high character with 
 which it came to me, as the result of the 
 mature deliberation of my revered father, has 
 stamped it with a sanction of the highest 
 authority.' 1 "I can indeed see no possible 
 objection to the plan," said Ccelebs • " and 
 for my own part, on the most attentive 
 consideration, I cordially join with the 
 Marquis." " At a time," said his Lordship, 
 " when every committee that has been ap- 
 pointed has disclosed the most alarming 
 peculations ; when we have seen men, 'till 
 lately held in the highest respect, disgorging 
 their ill-gotten wealth, and expiating their 
 crimes in the vilest prison; how can we 
 refuse to give our whole attention to per- 
 fecting some scheme, which will in future 
 prevent such nefarious conduct. We certainly 
 .have much to amend. The manner of 
 .rewarding public men by a commission, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 87 
 
 thereby giving them an interest in the in- 
 crease of the national expenditure, and filling 
 their pockets in proportion as the public 
 purse is emptied, is as unguarded and 
 impolitic, as to suffer them, under the plea of 
 perquisites, to rob the offices under their 
 controul, to supply the wants of their own 
 private establishments. With regard to the 
 existence of sinecure places, no one can 
 defend them. Let every one be paid for his 
 exertions, and amply recompensed for his 
 talents and assiduity. Let the family of the 
 benefactor of his country, if fallen unhappily 
 from affluence, receive from the liberality of 
 the nation a noble support, but let not any 
 one under the name and outward appearance 
 of performing a duty, receive an emolument 
 for which no duty is done ; I cannot think 
 that man a patriot (a term, however per- 
 verted by faction, or stigmatized by hirelings, 
 that all good men must respect) who receives, 
 or suffers any one under his controul to 
 receive, a salary to which no service js 
 annexed, nor for which any duty is required. 
 How much must he feel, if he possesses 
 
88 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 any feeling, the distress and difficulty of the 
 government to raise its supplies, and how 
 ought he to blush at receiving a salary, to 
 which, probably, he has no other claim but 
 that of having sacrificed his conscience and 
 his integrity." 
 
 The weather had cleared up, and the 
 Marquis wished us good morning. Ccelebs 
 recollected that the benefit concert was fixed 
 for to-morrow, and excused himself from 
 attending, as he had an invitation for both of 
 us to dine at Sir John Beaufleld's, and spend 
 the evening at Lord Stantley's. " Let me, 
 however, Sir George,*' said he, "be no tie 
 upon you." As I had no acquaintance with 
 Lord Stantley and his family ; I agreed to 
 dine with Sir John, if I were permitted to 
 depart at the same time that they went to his 
 Lordship. This was arranged, and Ccelebs 
 was not sorry to get over his first intro- 
 duction without me. He then presented his 
 Lordship with a five pound note from Sir 
 John, and the same from himself, for 
 the benefit ; " Here," said his Lordship, 
 " is the triumph of talents; when the man of 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 89 
 
 ability by unforeseen and unhappy circum- 
 stances is placed in situations of difficulty 
 and distress, bis cause is the cause of the 
 country; and men unacquainted with the 
 person, and knowing only his character and 
 his works, step forward with alacrity to give 
 him ease and independence, without imposing 
 on him a weight of obligation. If the trader, 
 or the man of business is unsuccessful, his 
 character and honesty may draw forth the 
 assistance of his immediate friends, but the 
 obligation is ever near him, and can never 
 be cancelled." He then took leave, agreeing 
 to call for me in Cavendish Square, to- 
 morrow, on his way to the Opera House. 
 We met to go to church in the afternoon, 
 after which, as last Sunday, we set the Mar- 
 quis down in Piccadilly, and went to 
 Chelsea to dine. We found the old kdy 
 very unwell. Ccelebs deserves great credit 
 for his kind attentions. 
 
 Best, &c. &c 
 
 Geo, Rover. 
 
90 CGSLEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Charles Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 Co nod's son seems to have the very 
 quotidian of love upon him, I hope his fit 
 will be of long continuance ; his father has 
 served me honestly for many years, and I 
 wish well to his children, so pray let them 
 have all they ask for. The Marquis called 
 upon me in Cavendish Square, as he had 
 promised, for the concert. — I never had a 
 greater treat ; the performers exerted them- 
 selves gratuitously, and with effect equal to 
 the nobleness of the principle which actuated 
 them. How gratifying is it to see men of a 
 liberal and elegant profession thus exerting 
 themselves for one of their own body whose 
 misfortune, not whose misconduct, has ren- 
 dered him necessitous. This it is to improve 
 the talent committed to our care, ancj wor- 
 ship in our actions the Giver of all good gifts. 
 I was much surprised at my return, to find 
 
C<ELEB9 SUITED. 91 
 
 Ccelebs at home before me. "There, 
 surely^ said he, "is some spell against 
 my seeing Lady Priscilla; I have been again 
 disappointed; as I was stepping into the 
 carriage an express arrived from Mrs. Mor- 
 rison, informing me that she had had a very 
 alarming attack, and was not expected to 
 live through the evening, and begging me to 
 'come to her immediately ; 1 hastened to obey, 
 and took with me Sir W. Parquhar, whom I 
 was fortunate enough to find at home. On 
 our arrival, we found her much better, Sir 
 Walter sa^s there is not the least danger, and 
 that the alarm of her servants was quite un- 
 necessary. You may judge how much I was 
 vexed, but my presence was a consolation to 
 the old Lady, and I feel happy that I was 
 with ner in her uneasiness : Sir Walter says, 
 there cannot be the least occasion for my 
 remaining in London, but I should not feel 
 satisfied at leaving her so quickly after such 
 an alarm. In this case I shall not quit town 
 until Wednesday morning, and will have the 
 pleasure of dedicating to-morrow to you." 
 
92 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 We were late on Tuesday morning at break- 
 fast, and were detained within till near one 
 by visitors. Young Trash, who has made so 
 great a figure on the turf, and injured both 
 his health and circumstances by his devotion 
 to the cause, paid Ccelebs a visit. Their 
 father's estates joined, and as very young 
 men they were known to each other, but 
 their habits have led them different wavs, 
 and their acquaintance has been continued 
 only by occasional nods in Bond Street or 
 Hyde Park. He has a gay airy manner, and 
 chatted for a longtime very pleasantly, lie 
 recounted some of his late adventures, and 
 he. has really done such extraordinary things 
 that one cannot deny credit to many more 
 than have been publicly known. — After ex- 
 hausting these topics, he gradually slackened 
 fire, and with a little hesitation informed 
 Coelebs that he had made a match to ride an 
 old mare of Iris father's, who was always 
 known as a great trotter, against time. That 
 he was confident she would do it, but that 
 Lord Barrvnose had not vet been able to 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 9$ 
 
 him what he had won of him the last 
 Brighton races, and that he wanted a little 
 stance to enable him to deposit stakes.— 
 Ccelebs told him very calmly, that he disap- 
 proved of the nature of the bet too much 
 to lend any assistance to the furtherance of 
 it, at the same time, if he were willing to 
 make a trial of his own strength and exer- 
 tions in any pedestrian match, he should, as 
 an old acquaintance, assist him. Trash 
 thanked him heartily, and after a little abuse 
 of the ministry, and sarcastic jokes at their 
 ill success, which he fairly avowed his opi- 
 nion must be the case under such manage- 
 ments, he took his leave. 
 
 " Here now," said Ccelebs " is one of the 
 menders of national affairs; three years ago 
 he was in the possession of a clear two thou- 
 sand a year, and now he cannot rise a stake 
 for a horse race.— This dreadful practice 
 of running horses against time, should be 
 severely punished —The noble exertion of 
 the racer, who feels as much desire to pass 
 his opponent, as the riders can do, and 
 
94s CCELEBS SVlTEfii 
 
 whose trial is short, I have always witnessed 
 with pleasure, ; but I am shocked when I 
 read accounts of the performance of some 
 of these poor animals* I confess I know 
 not how the legislature could interfere to 
 put a stop to it but it certainly is much to 
 be regretted that it is permitted." 
 
 The servant announced Captain Harker, 
 "Did you say I was engaged," said Ccelebs 
 aloud, and father angrily. — A very elegant 
 man entered, and I was shocked lest he 
 should have heard it. — " I fear I intrude," 
 said he, "but my visit will be short." — He 
 took a seat — "I was very sorry to hear 
 thatMrs. Morrison had been unwell" said he, 
 "I hope you entertain no fears for her life," 
 Coelebs answered coldly, that he was happy 
 to understand there was no danger. "I 
 served with her worthy husband in America, 
 and respected him much ; we had many a- 
 severe march together. — The privations of 
 our troops were very great, though I think 
 not equal to those which our brave men have 
 suffered through the neglect of the ministry, 
 
COELEBS SUITED. 95 
 
 on some late occasions... The real wants of 
 a soldier are not understood ; if they are 
 equipped with a good pair, of : shoes, and a 
 great coat, we call' them ready for service ; 
 but from a long experience and attentive 
 consideration, I know that there are many 
 trifles, which would greatly alleviate their 
 sufferings. This has been for some time so 
 strongly impressed upon my mind, that I 
 have determined to give the public a concise 
 history of the campaigns in which your late 
 worthy uncle and myself bore an active part. 
 The expences incidental to such an under- 
 taking are too lar^e to be furnished from 
 my present means, and I am therefore 
 induced to publish it by subscription, an& 
 may I request the honor of your name, and 
 your friends." Coelebs enquired after the 
 history of Botany Eay, which was to have 
 made its appearance some time since. — The 
 Captain said that the manuscript was in a 
 great state of forwardness, but that it waited 
 for some returns and surveys from thence 
 to enable him to be exactly correct, and that 
 
96 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 he had some reason to expect he might have 
 an opportunity of visiting that settlement 
 himself, when he should he able to publish it 
 with more confidence. His history of the 
 American campaigns, however, he had com- 
 pleted, and it would be committed to the 
 press as soon as he could be enabled to 
 print a respectable subscription list, to give 
 it consequence. Ccelebs was excusing him- 
 self from putting down his name, but pro- 
 mised to purchase it as soon as it appeared, 
 when the servant announced Dr. Truman. 
 The Captain as soon as he heard the name, 
 pocketed his subscription book, and shewed 
 his generalship by a hasty and well or- 
 dered retreat, and not only by not losing 
 any of his own baggage, but by carrying 
 off some of the enemy's, for in the haste he 
 took my hat instead of his own, thus 
 found himself a gainer by the visit. 
 
 The Doctor soon explained the reason of 
 his decamping so quickly, by informing us 
 that he had lately been brought before the 
 bench of magistrates of which he was a 
 
 -L 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 97 
 
 member, under the charge of obtaining 
 money under false pretences, and had been 
 threatened with transportation. — Thus it 
 appeared indeed likely that he would have 
 an opportunity of correcting his manuscript, 
 and that too at the expence of government, 
 — The Doctor was more talkative than when 
 I had the pleasure of meeting him at dinner 
 in Cavendish Square. — He had just come 
 from thence, and had left Lady Beaufield and 
 herdaughter, preparing to attend Lady Stant- 
 ley to Oxford Street, to examine the merits 
 of a washing machine. ".Why did not 
 you accompany them," said Ccelebs; "the 
 study of mechanics is very pleasant, and 
 those inventions which forward our com- 
 fort deserve our attentions.'' " In the first 
 place/' said the Doctor, "I do not like to 
 encourage Lady Beaufield's whim, by giving 
 countenance to it ; and in the next, I would 
 not go to see a machine which, if it answers, 
 must do harm, by lessening the quantity of 
 employ for females, who have already too 
 few means of gaining a livelihood. — If you 
 ii 
 
93 CCELE3S SUITED. 
 
 would inform me of a machine which could 
 impart a proper sense of the shame -and de- 
 gradation men suffer, when twirling caps 
 and bonnets, and snipping ribbons for the 
 live long day, thereby occupying situations 
 which unprotected females ought to fill, 
 or a machine which should impress on 
 our women of fashion the impropriety of 
 ever suffering a man to wait upon them in 
 those situations, I would walk to Whitechapel 
 to see it, and do my utmost to recommend it. 
 But a washing machine, I will not go to see, 
 till I hear that a bill has been carried 
 through Parliament to restrict the use of it 
 to peeresses, or at furthest to the service of 
 the judges, and ladies of the aldermen of 
 London. 
 
 u My visit here is however for a specific 
 purpose. I have in the cure which provi- 
 dence has placed under my charge, a sad 
 instance of the versatility of all mundane 
 affairs. — The privations and difficulties 
 which have been thrown in the way of par- 
 ticular branches of trade, by the unexampled 
 
 HK 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 99 
 
 manner in which the present war has been 
 conducted, has gradually reduced a deserv- 
 ing family from opulence to indigence ; from 
 the means of bestowing to the necessity 
 of requesting support. The difficulty I 
 have found in obtaining a situation for two 
 very deserving young women has made 
 me angry with the usurpation I have 
 lately remarked. — I have however been 
 able to place them as governesses in res- 
 pectable schools, and to obtain some 
 employ for the rest of the family, until 
 public affairs wear a better aspect. — In the 
 mean time, some small debts hinder a good 
 man from exerting the means he possesses 
 to procure subsistence for the rest of his 
 family, and these I am endeavouring to li- 
 quidate." Coelebs inquired the extent of his 
 wants, when the good Doctor fixed a sum, 
 which he said, he hoped he should obtain from 
 each person he had put upon a list to call 
 upon. — Ccelebs begged to double it, as some 
 of his friends might be from town, and slightly 
 hinted the name of the Marquis of Heron. — 
 h 2 
 
100 CCELLBS SUITED. 
 
 " The Marquis, " said he, "is I believe ac- 
 quainted with every body's wants, and super- 
 sedes the necessity of application. He called 
 upon me early this morning, and left me so no- 
 ble a donation that I was enabled considerably 
 to reduce my list both in number and value. 
 "You will not I hope, think it rude," said he, 
 " if I now take my leave, I have many calls 
 to make, and the business is urgent."— He 
 then wished us good morning. — "Thatman," 
 saidCoelebs, "really goes about doing good. 
 Let us now" said he, "take our hats, or we 
 may be deprived of our walk, It draws 
 on to the time of grand promenade, and 
 the beauty of the day will bring forth all 
 the butterflies." — We turned into St. James's 
 Street, and fixed ourselves at the corner of 
 Piccadilly, a central point to which all the 
 gay and fashionable must repair, that they 
 may hear and see every thing new and worth 
 notice. 
 
 "At the door of that subscription-house, " 
 saidCoelebs, "stands the carriage of the no- 
 ble peer whomade suchafigure in the debate 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 101 
 
 last night. After these fatigues he retires here 
 to recruit, and frequently quits the spot only 
 'to be present at another consultation on 
 the state of the nation, and the interests of 
 £ ur0 pe. — The carriage next to his Lord- 
 ship's belongs to a celebrated blackleg, who 
 relieves many a young heir from the ne- 
 cessity of troubling his head with the ma- 
 nagement of his father's stock and acres. — 
 Though notoriouslybelievedtohaveno other 
 means of living, this man finds his way into 
 the most respectable houses, and even 
 receives invitations to the evening parties of 
 many of our nobility." " But who is the gen- 
 tie man Who is driving the elegant equipage 
 I see coming up the street," said I. " He is 
 a chough," sir, said Ccelebs, "and as they 
 eay spacious in the possession of dirt. — I 
 never heard that he was rich in anv thing 
 else, except in his knowledge of the points 
 of a horse, or the flavor of claret. He has 
 lately come into a large fortune, and 
 luckily if he dissipates, he will himself 
 be, the only loser, for he is an only son. 
 
102 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 and has no connexion that depends upon 
 him. 
 
 "The chariot that follows, does more harm 
 than any carriage in London. It belongs to 
 a fashionable demirep. She some time since 
 fomented a quarrel between her keeper, a 
 young nobleman of fiery temper, and his par- 
 ticular friend, in which the former fell, she 
 now lives with his Lordship's second. A sad 
 instance of the depravity of the times." At 
 this moment young Trash came up. After 
 the salutations of the morning, " I have 
 been seeking you at home," said he: "you 
 said you would assist me if I made any 
 engagement more consistent with your 
 idea of propriety, I have just backed 
 myself to perform on foot a given num- 
 ber of miles in as many hours. If you 
 will assist me now, I shall be obliged to you, 
 and if you wish to make a little money, I 
 would advise you to back me 100." — Ccelebs 
 told him that he seldom made any bets, 
 and certainly should not on the present oc- 
 casion, but that if he would call in Jermvn 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 10S 
 
 Street at six o'clock, he would supply him 
 with what he wanted. Beins: satisfied with 
 this answer, he made the passing of an 
 acquaintance an excuse for his leaving us, 
 promising to be punctual to the appointment. 
 " I need not doubt that," said Coelebs, turn- 
 ing to me; "by the calculation this exploit 
 will keep him for six weeks out of mischief, 
 and I have expectations of procuring for him 
 an employ in the country, which I hope will 
 be of service to him ; he has good nature 
 and abilities, though being born to affluence, 
 it was not thoughtnecessary that they should 
 be cultivated." 
 
 Three young men passed us, dressed 
 to the extreme of fashion. Two of them 
 wore leather pantaloons and hussar boots, 
 the heels of which were so high and so 
 small at bottom, that it required much care 
 to preserve the equilibrium ; at the same 
 time they had immense gilt spurs, which 
 struck the ground at every step, and added 
 to the trouble of walking. They had en- 
 couraged the growth of their mustachios, 
 
•104 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 and but for the smoothness of their chins^ 
 might have rivalled the Saracen's head. — 
 The other was in a frock riding dress, and 
 his whole equipment of an entirely opposite 
 cut. His boots were decorated with a 
 number of long straps, his spurs were scarcely 
 thicker than pins, and they were fixed as 
 high on the leg as possible. He had on a 
 green coat, loaded with buttons of an ex- 
 travagant size, and in his hand a hunting; 
 whip, the thong of which was plaited of 
 leather of various colours, and the handle 
 ornamented with a quantity of gold wire 
 work. " In these three, 1 ' said Ccelebs, " you 
 have a specimen of the whole range of our 
 men of fashion you will find no other variety ; 
 until the heat of the weather makes them 
 substitute white or nankeen trowsers for 
 their close drqsses." 
 
 The young Countess of Apsby passed us ; 
 she was in an elegant vis-a-vis, her horses 
 decked with a profusion of gilt harness, and 
 her whole appointment remarkably hand- 
 some, " You must have heard of her," said 
 
 MHfiH^UH 
 
C(ELEBS SUITED. 105 
 
 Ccelebs. — "I have forgotten any particular 
 circumstances respecting her,*' replied I. 
 "She was the elder ofthree sisters/' continued 
 he, "and as such entitled to the largest 
 fortune we have heard of for many years; of 
 course, -she was an object of attraction to 
 all the single men of fashion ; and having 
 rank on her side as well as riches, she might 
 justly aspire to the highest titles. She is hand- 
 some too, and a good figure. — Xo sooner 
 was she presented in public, then she was 
 besieged by the attentions, and harrassed by 
 the offers, of a numerous train of pretenders; 
 some thought to catch her by their titles, 
 some by their persons, others by their gaiety 
 and wit. After much deliberation she made 
 choice of the young Earl of Apsby, a noble- 
 man of high family, great personal beauty, 
 and every way deserving of her ; and she had 
 the happiness to present to the man she had 
 chosen, the means of raising the titles and 
 honors of his ancestors to a pitch of 
 grandeur and consequence, greater than it 
 had ever enjoyed; and to relieve it from 
 
 i*9 
 
106 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 embarrassments into which it had unfortu- 
 nately fallen. They have lately been blessed 
 with a son, and will I hope, long continue 
 to deserve and enjoy the comforts which 
 have showered down upon them." 
 
 " How enviable was her lot," said I,— 
 il there is no blessing that independence, gives 
 greater than the liberty it allows us of 
 choosing our acquaintance; and selecting the 
 partner one supposes most likely to make 
 one happy. To a female this election is 
 most commonly denied ; I am glad that in 
 the present instance, it has been so well 
 directed." 
 
 " The variety of the female dresses dis- 
 played in their open carriages," said Ccelebs, 
 " really reminds me more of a masquerade 
 than of any thing rational. It was not so 
 even in my recollection. As much care and 
 attention is now paid to the arranging 
 of the morning appearance, as was formerly 
 bestowed on the full dress of an evening; 
 even in times but little past, the morning 
 dress of our females appeared more in cha- 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 107 
 
 racter, neat and modest, and their appearance 
 unassuming; but at present, they make a far 
 different appearance, and exhibit themselves 
 in the gayest colours, and the greatest pro- 
 fusion of ornaments." We now inclined to 
 move, and walked up Bond Street. To this 
 gav parade, flock the bucks of the City and 
 the bloods of St. James's, the grandees of 
 Thames Street, and the elegantes of Gros- 
 venor Square : the shopkeepers pay im- 
 mense rents, which are amply returned to 
 them by their great profits. 
 
 This street swarms with beggars too, and 
 objects of the most offensive and disgusting 
 cast. Every affliction that human nature is 
 subject to, every disease which poverty 
 and filth intail on the wretched, are suffered 
 to be here exposed, and besiege the doors of 
 the carriages with the greatest importunity, 
 and endeavour to interest the feelings by a 
 display of their calamities. That such sights 
 are permitted, is certainly a disgrace to 
 the police of this opulent city. If their visita- 
 tions are incurable, they should be obliged 
 
108 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 to reside in proper receptacles, if medical 
 aid is necessary, they should be obliged to 
 accept the benefit of it, which would be the 
 case if they were not permitted to make their 
 calamities a source of profit, and to view 
 , the prospect of returning health, as a 
 misfortune, cutting them off from a life of 
 indolence, and which custom has to them 
 made pleasant. 
 
 We returned to dinner, to Jermyn Street. 
 In the evening, Trash called. He told us, 
 " That he should immediately leave London 
 for Newmarket to go into training, and that 
 he had found numbers to back him. — I shall 
 remain three weeks in training under Lord 
 Clumbars groom, and have no doubt of my 
 success." Ccelebs gave him a draft for the 
 sum he wanted. When he was gone, I 
 could not help regretting this sad dereliction 
 from just thinking and proper conduct; nor 
 admiring the delicate kindness with which 
 Ccelebs treated him. "I hope/' said he, . 
 " this will be his last folly.; for . I think he 
 will be willing to. retire to the country, on a 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. >0Q 
 
 small place in the Excise, which I have the 
 promise of." 
 
 The servant is just arrived from Sloane 
 Street, and brings an account that Mrs, 
 Morrison is quite recovered. Make my best 
 compliments to Mrs. Rastock, &c, &c. 
 
 Geo, Rover, 
 
110 
 
 CALEBS SUITED, 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock 9 
 Esq, 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I have every reason to believe we 
 shall succeed in obtaining what we want 
 from Parliament. The bill has been read 
 once, and met with but little opposition. 
 The Marquis breakfasted with us on 
 Wednesday, and at eleven o'clock, Ccelebs 
 departed. He generally travels on horse- 
 back, attended by a single groom; a 
 mode he prefers, as most independent, and 
 agreeing best with his habit of body, which 
 rather inclines to corpulency ; but, on 
 this occasion, wishing to arrive at Beau- 
 field Lodge that night, he posted. " He is 
 an excellent creature," said his Lordship, 
 " and I have an high respect for him." A 
 sentiment in which I cordially joined. 
 
 We had assigned this day for a view of 
 some exhibitions of pictures, and first visited 
 the British Institution in. Pall Mall; an 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Ill 
 
 exhibition for the sale of paintings by modern 
 
 artists. It occupies the rooms lately called 
 the Shakespeare Gallery, where the pictures 
 painted to adorn the magnirieient edition of 
 our admired poet, brought out under the 
 direction of the late Alderman Boydeli, 
 were open for the inspection of the public. 
 " I am happy," said the Marquis, "in calling 
 mvself one of the original promoters of this 
 establishment which must be favorable to the 
 fostering of genius, and the advancement of 
 the arts. We have as yet but few attempts 
 at the higher walks of painting ; but the 
 public must take the chief blame of that upon 
 themselves. The encouragement and ap- 
 plause which has been lavished on works of 
 a different description, by which the mind is 
 lowered and debased, instead of exalted, has 
 turned the attention of the student, from the 
 really noble and elevated, to the course and 
 vulgar, has sacrificed the character, and 
 lowered the feeling of the art. 
 
 The early prod actions of the young artist 
 are most generally attempts to represent the- 
 
112 
 
 C CELEBS S17ITED. 
 
 sublime and glowing descriptions of Homer 
 or Milton, but he finds his efforts unassisted 
 and his works neglected. He applies to the 
 delineation of low life, and he gains en- 
 couragement and employ. For myself,*' 
 continued his Lordship, "I would rather 
 purchase those early attempts to embody 
 great and elevated scenes, than the more 
 finished and elaborate specimen of the 
 dexterous management of the pencil, exhibit- 
 ing no mark of feeling, nor any elegance of 
 mind. Large sums have been given for 
 these productions, which has given rise to 
 another inconvenience, that of exalting in 
 the opinion of the artist, the merit of his 
 work, and impressing him with a false idea 
 of excellence. I am sorry too that this 
 encouragement, so injudiciously exerted, 
 has induced artists .to put prices to their 
 pictures whichrthey have no right to demand. 
 If a man wishes to grow rich, he must give 
 his attention to trade, not to the arts; and he 
 should consider that by virtue of his pro- 
 fession he enjoys a certain consequence; 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 113 
 
 that he ranks as a gentleman ; and that the 
 art he practises will carry him into companies 
 where his more wealthy neighbour would 
 not be admitted. All that he can expect, at 
 least while a young man, is to be able to 
 maintain himself decently, and live frugally. 
 I do not mean to condemn indiscriminately 
 all the exhibitors ; many who have shewn 
 great talents have appreciated their works 
 modestly, and those artists should receive 
 the encouragement of the great and opulent ; 
 but unfortunately some performances which 
 have attracted a good deal of notice have 
 been so extravagantly valued, that the 
 patrons withdrew their support, (with but 
 few exceptions) from the whole, and thus 
 involve the conscientious and modest, in 
 the same neglect with the conceited and 
 exorbitant." 
 
 The Marquis pointed out with great dis- 
 crimination, the articles of excellence to be 
 found in the several performances. He is a 
 liberal purchaser of these efforts of rising 
 genius, and is sanguine in the hope of, 'ere 
 i 
 
114 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 long, seeing greater exertions. We went 
 after this to an exhibition of water colour 
 drawings. This branch of the art has of late 
 years made a wonderful advance, and from 
 the examples we have both at Fairland and 
 Rastock, you can judge but very imperfectly 
 of the excellence to which it has arrived. 
 The artist in this line has this great advan- 
 tage over painting in oil; there are no 
 ancient drawings by which the value of 
 modern performances can be estimated, a 
 comparison always prejudicial to every 
 description of modern art. We parted in 
 St. James's Street; the Marquis engaging 
 me to dine with him at six o'clock, and to 
 go with him to the Opera, after which he 
 had a small party to supper. 
 
 Yours, &c. &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 115 
 
 Ccelebs to Sir George Rover, Bart. 
 
 Beaufield Lodge, 
 
 Dear Sir George, 
 
 To obey your injunction, I write, 
 though I have nothing to say, but that by God's 
 blessing, I arrived here in safety, and just 
 in time for the post. — The whole family 
 desire me to present their compliments. The 
 ploughing match is fixed for Saturday, and 
 I will give you an account of the day; I 
 am anxious for its arrival. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Ccelebs, 
 
 I £ 
 
115 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir William Pastox, to the Marquis 
 of Herox. 
 
 Oxford. 
 
 Dear Marquis, 
 
 Never did a young girl pant to 
 enter her teens, or to bid adieu to frocks and 
 tuckers, as I do for dear twenty-five, — a 
 short month, and heigh-o for the world. 
 Here have I been confined to the arms of 
 alma mater, with as good an inclination to 
 make one of the gay throng as the best of 
 them. Here have I been pinioned, and 
 condemned to see the young birds try their 
 light wings, and soar above my reach. 
 
 But I will not now repine, if I have been 
 robbed of much pleasure, I have likewise 
 escaped much danger, and when I recollect 
 the end of the flights of many of these young 
 birds, the chance of my own better success 
 seems doubtful. Two or three who have 
 exchanged alma mater for a red coat, and 
 gay parades, have found their quietus in a 
 bed of honor, and one has broken his neck 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 11 
 
 in a fall from his phaeton ; some have made 
 their exits after a ten bottle dinner, and 
 others remain with a fashionable mistress 
 fastened round their necks, whom they 
 cannot shake off, and whom they don't wish 
 to keep. Faith, I shall begin to applaud my 
 father's foresight ; if any of these ills could 
 have befallen me, I think it would have been 
 the becoming the dupe of some artful woman ; 
 who that has feeling, and whose blood is not 
 a little cooled by a few years reflection and 
 commerce with the world, can steer clear 
 of the temptations ; who can guard against 
 their charms, assailing us at one time, with 
 all the arts of pleasure ; at another, under 
 the specious veil of decorum: "all things 
 by turn and nothing long !" What young 
 mind can resist the spell ? Heaven be 
 thanked ! the chance of losing my way by 
 this road seems now to be removed, and 
 having my attention so fortunately with- 
 drawn from this, I must endeavour to guard 
 every other avenue to evil with the more 
 care. 
 
118 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 I thank you heartily for your whimsical 
 account of your friend Coelebs, and do 
 really expect to see him playing the lover 
 at Stantley, and if he continues to entertain 
 the sentiments you mention, I can answer 
 for his being a welcome visitor — chez nous. 
 
 Mr. Lamb writes me word, that the 
 scheme of alteration goes on rapidly at the 
 Park. His Lordship has presented him with 
 all his rare plants, and with a fine aviary of 
 curious foreign and native birds, which he 
 has thought worth building a house for. I 
 am sorry for the mania ; but the ploughing 
 match, Mr. Lamb says, will exceed the 
 folly of all former years. Lady Priscilla is 
 to represent Ceres, and he believes, that 
 the rest of the family are to personate the 
 characters of the gods and goddesses presiding 
 over agriculture ; the servants are to be fawns 
 and dryads. I sadly fear, I shall forget in 
 this strange medley, the elegance of the 
 place in the late Earl's time. 
 
 The house is nearly square, you enter at the 
 north front by a noble double flight of steps, 
 
CALEBS SUITED, H9 
 
 flanked by lions and sumptuous iron standards 
 for lamps. The sides of the hallare designed 
 from the front of a Roman triumphal arch ; 
 the walls are lined with the finest Sienna 
 marble, and the fluted columns against them 
 are of highly polished porphyry. The figures 
 in the niches, the basso relievos, and other 
 ornaments are of bronze of most exquisite 
 workmanship. From the hall you pass to 
 the saloon, which opens to a magnificient 
 portico of the Corinthian order in the south 
 front. The walls of this room are of white 
 marble, the columns of verde antique, the 
 capitals of the columns, and the ornaments 
 of the deling and cornice white heightened 
 with gold. To the right and left of these 
 rooms are the living apartments, and the 
 wings, taking the depth of the building, from 
 north to south, are occupied the one as a 
 library, the other as a ball room. Nothing 
 can possibly exceed the propriety and 
 elegance of the furniture. The statues, 
 pictures, and books are also well selected. 
 The south portico commands a fine view 
 
120 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 of the lake and woods beyond, which had 
 . been formed and matured with great judge- 
 ment and at a vast expence ; and thus I 
 remember it But now, I am told, the house 
 is converted into a temple of Ceres, and the 
 ornamental grounds sadly neglected. 
 
 I have wandered very far from my 
 Original intention in writing, it was to ask 
 whether you would meet me at my mother's, 
 and if you can persuade Sir George Rover 
 to accompany you; you know how happy 
 I shall be to be introduced to him. I 
 wrote immediately on last hearing from you, 
 to order a room to be prepared for him, 
 which I hope he will make use of. The 
 Countess writes me word she shall be at the 
 Elms on the twenty-fourth, and I shall not 
 fail to be there to receive her. Here our 
 pursuits and politics are much as you 
 remember them. Old Norton is dead and 
 has left his niece, who has long been 
 waiting for it, a large fortune, which has 
 created no small bustle among the fellows 
 of Queen's : 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 121 
 
 " Oh, what a world of vile ill-favour'd faults 
 u Looks handsome, in three hundred pounds a-year." 
 
 Tinson is presented to a good living, by 
 his patron, Lord Thurville ; so that he may 
 now relieve the sighs of his little Carry. 
 Jack Charleroy has been in great disgrace 
 with the Dean ; but the dog offends I believe 
 only to be forgiven, and would rather suffer 
 any disgrace than pass unnoticed. Don't 
 forget the pandeans. If I can leave Oxford, 
 I will be at home time enough to see every 
 thing arranged before any of my friends 
 arrive. 
 
 Pear Marquis, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 W. Paston, 
 
122 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 Caleb C<elebs ; Esq. to Sir Geo. Rover, 
 Bart 
 
 Beaujield Lodge, 
 
 Dear Sir George, 
 
 I had no intention of writing to you 
 until our fete was over, that I might have 
 something interesting to communicate ; but 
 I cannot resist the inclination I feel to relate 
 my adventure of this morning; and I set 
 down immediately on my return, having yet 
 a short time before breakfast. Feeling no 
 great inclination to sleep after six o'clock, I 
 rose and took my horse for an airing over 
 the Downs. I was insensibly led towards 
 Stantley House, and soon found myself 
 stopped by the boundary of the Park. I was 
 admiring the high state of cultivation in 
 which every thing appeared, the forward 
 character of the crops, and the general 
 appearance of good farming, when I arrived 
 at a gate which had accidentally been left 
 open. I hesitated a moment, then tying 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 123 
 
 my horse to the rails, entered the domain 
 of this genius of agriculture. Oh, Sir 
 George, how I wished for your presence. 
 I am sure I should have made a convert of 
 you. You must have confessed that here, at 
 least, was the triumph of good sense. As I 
 was ruminating on this and regretting 'that 
 the principle was not more generally allowed 
 and respected by men of rank, I found 
 myself in front of a beautiful little building. 
 It had a centre and wings. The centre was 
 circular, covered by a dome of nice propor- 
 tion. The cornice supported by columns, 
 standing just detached from the wall; the 
 interior was lined with the finest marble, and 
 enriched with basso relievos of the most 
 exquisite workmanship. The roof of the 
 wings was of glass, to admit air and light to 
 a beautiful green house, terminated by an 
 aviary. I was very much struck with 
 the beauty of the building, and was con- 
 templating it with great attention, when I 
 heard the sound of voices, and then the 
 first stanza of Shenstone's Ode to Spring. 
 
124 C(ELEBS SUITED. 
 
 " Now in the cowslip's dewy cell, 
 " The fairies make their bed ; 
 " They hover round the chrystal well, 
 " The turf in circles tread. 
 
 " The lovely linnet now her song, 
 " Tunes sweetest in the wood ; 
 " The twiii'ring swallow skims along, 
 '* The azure liquid flood." 
 
 was warbled in the most artless and affecting 
 manner. I hesitated whether I should 
 advance or retire. The song ceased, and I 
 went gently round to the back of the building, 
 which I perceived had been fitted up as a 
 dairy. Nothing could exceed the neatness 
 and cleanliness of the place. The pails 
 whiter than snow, were piled with extra- 
 ordinary care, and the necessary implements 
 of milking were disposed around with the 
 greatest precision. Under a deep thatched 
 roof, supported by rustic columns, two 
 Alderney cows were reposing. 
 
 It was the most beautiful morning I ever 
 beheld, all nature felt the return of the 
 enlivening spring, and was pouring out its 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 125 
 
 praises and acknowledgment to its Great 
 Director. I was advancing to examine the 
 interior, when the soiiii again besan. I 
 was attracted by it to move my situation, so 
 as to command the further wing. I then 
 saw, I hardly know how to describe her,-^ 
 the very goddess of health and good humour, 
 her cheeks glowing with the bloom of exercise, 
 and her countenance decked with smiles. 
 She was dressed in white, and wore on her 
 head a straw bonnet, ornamented with li^ht 
 blue ribbons, which were playing on the 
 most lovely neck I ever beheld ; and her 
 every motion was marked with energv and 
 thought. She was churning ! I again hesi- 
 tated how to proceed; to have discovered 
 myself, might have alarmed the lovely girl ; 
 yet I knew not how to retreat. I remained 
 to contemplate and admire, and soliloquized 
 not a little upon the usefulness of her 
 employ, and the good effects her early, rising 
 and exercise must have on her health and 
 spirits. In a short time, she finished her 
 task, and taking up a book, which lay by 
 
126 
 
 CCELEBS SUITES, 
 
 her side, took the path to the house, reading 
 aloud Gray's Ode to Spring ; beginning, 
 
 " Lo, where the rosy-bosom'd hours, — 
 " Fair Venus' train appear." 
 
 I was enraptured, I rushed into the 
 room she had quitted, kissed the churn 
 she had used, drank some of the cream she 
 had left, and was indulging myself in 
 repeating, after her, the passage I had just 
 heard ; when my voice attracted the atten- 
 tion of the guardian of the dairy. She was 
 a nice clean country girl, and though a little 
 frightened at first, soon recovered the alarm 
 she had felt, at, as she said, seeing her 
 mistresschangedintoaman. "Dear me, Sir,'* 
 said she, " I did not know, Lady Pris. was 
 gone." " Lady Pris " said I, " Pray who is 
 Lady Pris ?" " Lord, Sir !" said she, "don't 
 you know Lady Pris ? Why I thought every 
 body knew Lady Priscilla Stantley." I 
 acknowledged that I did not, and then I 
 found that the divinity I had been adoring, 
 was her, whose image has so long filled my 
 mind ; and whose character, I was happy 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 127 
 
 to find was not exaggerated. I took a seat, 
 and the girl furnished me with all that she 
 could recollect about her young lady. I was 
 charmed with her artless manner, and 
 listened with most eager and delighted 
 attention. " In summer, Sir, Lady Priscilla 
 rises at six o'clock ; and three mornings in 
 tiieweek, which she calls churning mornings, 
 she comes here to assist me, for she says its 
 useful and healthy ; and she is so cute that, 
 I verily believe as there ant a better dairy 
 woman in Wiltshire ne'r she. My Lord says 
 as she ought to be a pattern to all young ladies. 
 On the other three mornings, she sees after 
 the poultry, and goes wi Margery to see the 
 pigs, and my Lord gives her one out of each, 
 thof Margery has the greatest trouble wi um. 
 Then, Sir, she takes all the trouble of the 
 house off my Lady, and sees to the house- 
 keeper and cook's work, and takes care to 
 keep em honest, whether they will or no. 
 And then she teaches some little children in 
 the parish ; and then she knits, and then she 
 takes a walk round, and sees as every thing 
 
128 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 has been done as she ordered. And she 
 reads a great deal, as much they say almost 
 as the Rector. Lady Priscilla is always doing 
 good ; and for a matter of that, so is Lady 
 Hebe, only she is not always at it as Lady 
 Priscilla is." I encourged her loquacity, 
 and she proceeded. " Lady Hebe never 
 comes here to churn ; but she always rises 
 at six o'clock in the summer, like Lady 
 Priscilla, and mostly comes here with her, 
 or to fetch her, but then she generally goes 
 into the marble room to read, or draw 
 pictures, and she takes off the wood, and 
 the water opposite the windows. When the 
 late Lord was alive, the rooms was all 
 furnished, and the green-house was full of 
 exotics, as the gardener called em, and the 
 avary had all manner of curus birds; but, 
 my Lord said, they was of no use, no more 
 they was ; for they eat more nor their heads 
 were worth, so my Lord gave em away to Mr. 
 Lamb, at the Elms." " And how does Mr. 
 Lamb dispose of them," said I, "Oh, Mr. 
 Lamb built a place for em, exactly like this, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 129 
 
 only lesser ; you may see it from the great 
 portico, a"nd so you may Mr. Lamb's house. 
 Lady Hebe is almost always there. She and 
 the youngest Miss Lamb is great friends. 
 When Lady Priscilla goes to see about the 
 dinner, and them things ; Lady Hebe, after 
 she has done reading to her Papa, generally 
 goes there, and I does not think as my 
 Lord quite likes it ; then, sometimes, they 
 comes here, for they walk a great deal, and 
 know every body in the villages about. But 
 they never go into any cottages without 
 they are asked in ; because they say it's 
 like spying, but the poor people have only 
 to ask for what they want, and Lady Hebe 
 is sure to get it for them. Housekeeper 
 says too, that she is very clever in the house 
 affairs, only she don't take to it like Lady 
 Priscilla."' 
 
 I now looked at my watch, and found 
 that I must hasten home. I rewarded 
 the girl for her information ; and finding 
 the family not yet ready, have seized the 
 opportunity of communicating my morning 
 
 K 
 

 130 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 ramble to you. Pray let the Marquis know 
 that I have seen Lady Priscilla ; indeed you 
 may make known to him the contents of 
 this letter. 
 
 To-morrow morning we breakfast at the 
 Park. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Caleb Coelebs. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 131 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs, Esq. to Sir Geo. Rover, 
 Bart. 
 
 Dear Sir George, 
 
 I promised to give you an account of 
 our fete, and shall immediately proceed upon 
 it. Early on Saturday morning every one 
 was on the alert, and preparing for the 
 interesting spectacle. We went to breakfast 
 at the Park. Sir George had volunteered 
 to assist in some of the arrangements. — 
 Accordingly we left Beaufield Lodge at 
 eight o'clock, dressed as villagers ; it having 
 been announced that the gentlemen and 
 ladies were expected to appear in a rustic 
 costume. This was sensibly done, with a 
 view of creating in the common people a 
 just sense of their value, and not over- 
 powering them by the superior appearance 
 of the visitors. 
 
 It had been originally intended that Lord 
 Stantley should have personated Vertumnus; 
 Lady Stantley, Pomona; Lady Priscilla, 
 
132 C0ZLEBS SUITED. 
 
 Ceres; and the rest of the family to have taken 
 appropriate characters, but some difficulties 
 occurred, and it was in part abandoned. 
 Lady Priscilla, however, took the character 
 of Ceres ; Lady Hebe and the young Lord 
 appearing as her attendants. If I admired 
 her at the dairy, how much more was I 
 charmed with her now. She was dressed as 
 the Grecian Goddess, and on receiving the 
 salutations of the company, presented each 
 with an ear of corn ; mine I shall keep with 
 the greatest care. Sir George has kindly 
 informed me how to make a preparation 
 which will preserve it for ever. 
 
 She was universally complimented on the 
 taste and propriety of her dress, not one 
 word of which was lost upon me. You per- 
 ceive that I am an enthusiast already, but 
 my father's old friend had always strongly 
 impressed me with the value of propriety, 
 and here I have found it entire. Breakfast 
 was served in the Marble-hall. In the centre 
 was an immense table supported upon rustic 
 legs, cut from pines of Lord Stantleys 
 
COELEBS SUITED. 133 
 
 planting, and which, by an improved 
 management, he has brought to a size far 
 beyond any we have seen in this country 
 before. The whole of the repast was served 
 from the farm, and I found that the butter 
 was made by Lady Priscilla, and the bread 
 baked under her direction ; she has too a 
 very superior method of managing her hives, 
 and I think, I never tasted honey with such 
 a flavour ; I very much regret that you did 
 not accompany me. 
 
 But I must proceed in my description : 
 The hall is of Sienna marble, and has four 
 niches, in which formerly were placed bronze 
 figures; these have been removed, and 
 natural curiosities supply their places. In 
 one is suspended the rind of an immense 
 turnip from Norfolk, a present from a great 
 agriculturist of that county, and when sent 
 to Stantley, contained in its inside a lamb, to 
 whom it afforded sustenance for a week. In 
 another, a cabbage from Lewes, in Sussex ; 
 the fellow to which had fed a cow for the 
 same time. In a third was one of the Dutch 
 
134* CGELEBS SUITED. 
 
 cheeses which had been used in the action 
 between Lord Duncan and the Dutch fleet 
 off Camperdown, instead of balls, in conse- 
 quence of the scarcity of ammunition ; and 
 in the fourth, is a head of asparagus, from 
 Ireland, it was sent over as a great curiosity, 
 being from the only bed that had been 
 brought to perfection during the reign of 
 any one viceroy. 
 
 On one side of the room stood a beautiful 
 model of a plough ; an improvement on the 
 curricle plough, having the advantage of a 
 seat for two persons, so that experimentalists 
 may take the air, and make their observations 
 without fatigue ; there is likewise a head to 
 it, so that there is no dread of being over- 
 taken by a storm, and ladies may profit by 
 it as well as gentlemen. In another place 
 was a model for a reaping machine, by which, 
 if it could have been made to act, manual 
 labour would have been greatly abridged. 
 Against the wall, hung in regular succession, 
 from the field mouse up to the fox, all those 
 animals which are the scourge of the farmer ; 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 135 
 
 they are ticketed, and the nature of their 
 depredations described. Over the chimney, 
 in a handsome glass case, is the rook which 
 his Lordship shot^ to prove the advantage 
 of this animal to man. She has in her craw- 
 eight grubs. In preserving her, this part 
 has been laid open so as to exhibit them. 
 
 I had not time to finish my remarks, and 
 admire sufficiently this minute attention to 
 many useful experiments, before the ringing of 
 bells, the sound of pipes, tabors, the jingling 
 of morrice dancers, and the shouts of the 
 populace, announced that the arrangements 
 were ready. By this time too, most of the 
 neighbouring families of note had arrived. 
 Mr. Lamb and family ; Sir William and Lady 
 Paston; the Miss Pastons; and, in short, 
 a party of about forty. They w r ere all dressed 
 in the costume that had been prescribed for 
 them. At the signal of a bugle horn, we 
 left the breakfast room, and passing through 
 the saloon, walked out to the south portico ; 
 Sir John handing Lady Priscilla; Sir William 
 Paston taking Lady Hebe. On our appear- 
 
136 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 ance we were saluted with three cheers, and 
 here ended all the distinction of rank, except 
 that the portico was held sacred for his Lord- 
 ship's visitors. Lady Priscilla, as Ceres, then 
 recited a short ode which had been composed 
 by her father expressly for the occasion; 
 and finished by an address, recommending 
 to the competitors confidence and exertion. 
 At the conclusion, the music again sounded 
 as the signal for preparation. I should 
 tell you that marquees had been erected at 
 each extremity of the lawn, forming a very 
 broad avenue from die house; and the 
 line marked for this trial of skill, was from 
 the river and back again, thrice repeated : 
 there were six competitors. Having yoked 
 their cattle they advanced to the portico, 
 and received from Lady Priscilla a goblet of 
 ale, and then making their obeisaruce, they 
 took their posts at the head of their respective 
 teams. The bugle again sounded, and all 
 was interest and anxious expectation. After 
 the first heat the men advanced to the portico, 
 Lady Priscilla recited a stanza of six lines, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 137 
 
 and again presented the goblet. The bugle 
 sounded, and at the finish of each trial, the 
 same ceremony took place. After the last 
 heat the competitors mounted a waggon 
 which was in attendance, decked with oak 
 and laurel branches, and were carried 
 to a marquee which had been erected within 
 view on a distant hill, where refreshments 
 were prepared for them. His Lordship now 
 marshalled the procession ; Lady Priscilla, 
 attended Lady Hebe, and her brother walked 
 at the head ; then the umpires, the company 
 followingtwo and two. — Ithad been intended 
 that the servants should have personated 
 fawns and dryads, but the idea was after- 
 wards abandoned. The music struck up as 
 the procession began to move, and the 
 morrice dancers were substituted in place 
 of the fawns. — After examining the several 
 claims we arrived again at the portico ; the 
 umpires declared their opinions, and Ceres 
 deciding between them, adjudged the prizes. 
 The bugle sounded, and the men soon ap- 
 peared. Lady Priscilla pronounced another 
 
135 CCELEES SUITED. 
 
 address, and presented the rewards, 
 consisting of a purse of money, according 
 to the superiority of the performance ; and 
 a medal, which she herself hung round 
 their necks, suspended by a light blue 
 ribband. On the obverse of the medal was 
 a head of his Lordship, with his titles and 
 motto; and in the reverse, encircled by an 
 oaken wreath, a representation of the plough 
 I have before described, with the legend, 
 "speed the plough." 
 
 The men then retired, and a number 
 of females appeared, singing verses, and 
 bearing certificates of their good behaviour 
 in their respective places; their claims were 
 examined, and rewarded. — Then came the 
 girls from the school which Lady Priscilla 
 superintends, who recited some lines in her 
 praise ; they were very kindly received, and 
 presented with cakes and wine ; and next the 
 iittle boys from the same school, who went 
 through the same forms. — The bugle sounded, 
 servants were seen running in every direc- 
 tion, and covering the tables in the tents with 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 139 
 
 rounds of beef, hams, and fillets of veal ; and 
 distributing a handsome allowance of ale. 
 During the time that the villagers dined, we 
 partook of a collation that had been prepared 
 in the ball room. — The young Lord and 
 some of his companions, who had come from 
 Eton on purpose for the day, had been sup- 
 plied rather too freely with wine, and became 
 a little troublesome, but his Lordship's inter- 
 ference soon set them right again. — We pro- 
 ceeded once more to the portico, and found 
 the villagers drawn up for a country dance. 
 The victor waiting to receive the fair hand 
 of Lady Priscilla. How I envied the dog ! 
 I thought I could follow the plough all the 
 rest of my life for this one gratification. She 
 led down a dance with each of the six com- 
 petitors, after which every one took the 
 partner he preferred, and I was fortunate 
 enough to obtain Lady Priscilla. But un- 
 luckily before the dancing again commenced, 
 a little affray between two men obliged 
 us to retire to the ball room; and the evening 
 approaching, the company ordered the 
 
140 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 carriage, and we returned to Beaufield 
 Lodge. 
 
 How much do I feel obliged to Sir John 
 for his introduction to this excellent family, 
 but to Lady Priscilla, I feel myself strongly 
 devoted. — I have met in her, all that my 
 father's old friend so strongly impressed upon 
 me, an absence of all accomplishments, and 
 the space filled with the knowledge and 
 practice of domestic duties. Here too the 
 pride of birth gives way to a more noble 
 feeling, the pride of good works. 
 
 Lady Hebe is a charming girl, but did 
 not take a very active part in the fete. 
 I was very happy in meeting your friend, 
 Sir William Paston here, who arrived unex- 
 pectedly from Oxford, to be present; a com- 
 pliment which his Lordship felt very sensibly. 
 I have made good a footing in the family, 
 and am engaged to ride over the farms with 
 his Lordship on Tuesday next. — Sir William 
 tells me that his coming of age is to be a day, 
 or rather days of jubilee; I hear that in con- 
 sequence of his long minority, he will be- 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 141 
 
 come master of a splendid fortune, and that 
 it is expected he will marry the eldest Mis- 
 Lamb. — Let me have the pleasure of hearing 
 from you as often as possible. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Ccelebs. 
 
142 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir William Paston to the Marquis 
 of Heron. 
 
 Dear Marquis, 
 
 You will be surprised to hear 
 from me from hence, but finding that I 
 could escape from Oxford, and knowing 
 that Lord Stantley would be much gratified 
 by my appearance at the ploughing match, 
 to which he had sent me a very pressing in- 
 vitation, I determined to join the party. I 
 saw Mr. Lamb the evening previous, who 
 was debating whether he should go, but 
 his daughter was so anxious to be present 
 to support Lady Hebe, that he reluctantly 
 consented. " I never knew," said he, when 
 w ? e were alone, " any good arise from it. The 
 men will always plough as well as they can for 
 their own credit and good wages, and I dislike 
 this kind of fete champetre, confounding all 
 ranks. As a magistrate, I never interfere 
 to put down wakes or fairs, or any days of 
 jollity and merriment among them, where 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 143 
 
 their poverty generally keeps them sober, 
 and the fear of the consequence chaste. 
 Never since Lord Stantley has been among' 
 us has one of these days passed off without 
 unpleasant consequences. By the liberal 
 allowance of ale distributed equally among 
 men and women, the blood is heated, and in 
 the fantastic dresses which most of them 
 have assumed, they forget their real situation, 
 and the parish is generally burthened with 
 the consequence. However," said he, "I 
 will go, and return as soon as the ploughing 
 is over." 
 
 All this really added to my wish to be 
 present, and I expected the highest enter- 
 tainment from this display of human folly, 
 and truly I was not disappointed. But how 
 was I shocked on entering the Marble hall. 
 Will you believe it? His Lordship has 
 dispossessed of their places the beautiful 
 bronze statues which occupied the niches, 
 and filled their places, by natural curiosities, 
 as he says, much more worthy of our atten- 
 tion. I read the labels attached to two of 
 
14-1 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 them. One was a head of asparagus from 
 Ireland. You have read the account of 
 the bed it -was reared upon in the ' Right 
 merrye and conceited historic of our facetious 
 Knight Errant.' — The other was an immense 
 cabbage from Sussex, presented by your 
 friend of oratorical celebrity. If he were 
 fuller of cabbages and less so of words, it 
 would be well for the gravity of the Imperial 
 Parliament. — The walls are huns round 
 with dead vermin, and the room is clustered 
 with fanciful implements of agriculture. 
 How I shuddered at the sight. Could the 
 ghost of the late Earl rise from the silent 
 tomb and witness this change, how would he 
 be troubled, how would he be tortured at 
 this aberration from the true principles of 
 taste, which he had always endeavoured to 
 inculcate.- 
 
 The completion of all the arrangements 
 was announced by such a rare compound 
 of villainous noises, as you can have no 
 conception of, unless, you have heard two 
 bands besieging the doors of Stevens's hotel, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 145 
 
 each exerting all their power to drive the 
 others from the lucrative post. — Bugle horns, 
 drums and fifes, hurdy gurdies, and tam- 
 bourines joined to the jingling of the merry 
 drums, made up a most hideous concert. 
 You know how sensitive Mr. Lamb is, 
 and can feel all his horror at such a visi- 
 tation. We proceeded to the portico where 
 Lady Priscilla recited a very pretty ode to 
 the mob, composed by Lord Stantley, which 
 of course none of the mob could understand, 
 and then the ploughing commenced. At the 
 conclusion, Lady Priscilla, who was habited 
 as Ceres, and the brother and sister as 
 attendants, received the report of the judge, 
 and gave her decision. 
 
 The scheme of making the servants 
 personate fawns and dryads had been very 
 reluctantly given up, for they could not get 
 over the difficulties of the lunar signs. In- 
 stead of them we were annoyed by clumsy 
 morrice dancers, capering about us every 
 time we moved, — A collation was served 
 in the ball room, to which we adjourned. 
 
 L 
 
145 CCELEBS s'UITEB, 
 
 while the villagers dined. Here Lord 
 Seymour, and his companion from Eton, 
 made rather too free with the bottle, which 
 added to the heat of the day and the unusual 
 exercise, produced on their brains no little 
 confusion, and his Lordship with one sweep 
 of the wand with which he had been invested 
 as the token of his authority, cleared his 
 end of the table, and overturned into Lady 
 Hebe's lap, a bottle of port wine. After 
 we had recovered this confusion, a bugle 
 horn sounded, and we again proceeded to 
 the lawn, to join the merry dancers, I saw 
 that your friend Coelebs, who by the bve 
 seems a very good fellow, was much chagrined 
 at the accident, but he was so occupied with 
 the appearance and performance of Lady 
 Priscilla, that little else seemed to make 
 any impression. I hate this dancing in the 
 heat of the sun, or seeing others dance, 
 especially such others. 
 
 Lady Priscilla gave her hand to the first 
 victor, and then successively to five other 
 clowns; Coelebs waiting with the utmost im- 
 
COELEBS SUITED. 147 
 
 patience, as he had the promise of dancing 
 with her after those men, who claimed 
 it as a right. 
 
 Thus far we had proceeded pretty well, but 
 unfortunately Cupid having, by a slight 
 mistake, struck two youths with the same 
 arrow, and the one claiming the fair one's 
 hand by right of merit (having been a suc- 
 cessful competitor in the ploughing match), 
 a claim which the other would not admit, 
 they had immediate recourse to more power- 
 ful arguments than words. This reference 
 is generally too instantaneous to admit much 
 prologue, nor were either of the disputants 
 in a state to listen to calm reasoning. ' The 
 mugs were large, the drink was wondrous 
 strong,' and they had not refused their share. 
 The damsel threw herself between the com- 
 batants, but was quickly obliged to retire ; 
 Lord Stantley then interfered, but unluckily 
 one of the men, in aiming a blow at his 
 adversary, overshot his mark, and felled 
 his Lordship to the ground. All was now 
 terror and confusion ; the ladies fainted, and 
 L 2 
 
148 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 begged their carriages might be called; while 
 among the villagers the scene became a battle 
 royal, in which both men and women took part. 
 The field was quickly strewed with caps, hats, 
 and handkerchiefs, and many a damsel made 
 a very unexpected display of her charms. 
 After the greatest exertion on the part of 
 your friend Ccelebs and all the gentlemen 
 present, order was restored, and the people 
 quietly dispersed, each seizing those articles 
 of dress she could obtain, and determining 
 that each should exchange them for their 
 own property when more at leisure. 
 
 His Lordship was the greatest sufferer. He 
 was some time recovering from the effect? 
 of the blow he had received, and still ex- 
 hibits strong marks of the power of his an- 
 tagonist. — "These awkward circumstances,'* 
 said his Lordship, when I called upon him 
 the next morning, "will sometimes occur,but 
 I always attribute them to the real cause, 
 an innate national spirit; and I consider 
 that the skill and courage which these fellows 
 exert to thrash one another, is the surest 
 
C CELEBS SUITED. 
 
 149 
 
 pledge that they would treat any invaders 
 with even less ceremony." — I did not think 
 it right to put his Lordship out of humour 
 with the beating he had received, and there- 
 fore assented to his observation. — From 
 thence I rode over to the Elms ; Mr. Lamb 
 was highly amused with my account of the 
 conclusion of the fete. Lady Hebe had 
 made the accident at dinner an excuse for 
 withdrawing; and Mr. Lamb, seeing his 
 daughter at liberty, had retired before the 
 dancing commenced. u It is always so," said 
 he,— "I think indeed," continued he, "that 
 it is the most fortunate circumstance when 
 the meeting is so broken up, for it sends the 
 people home to their respective houses, in no 
 humour for further amusement. I must 
 call on his Lordship, and condole with him, 
 thourii I fear he will think I am jesting, as 
 he knows my objection to these things." 
 
 Ccelebs talks of returning to town at the 
 end of next week. I have exacted a promise 
 from him, that he will return here with you 
 on the twenty-fourth, and I hope you will 
 
150 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 prevail on Sir George Rover to accompany 
 you. — I have not yet determined what I shall 
 do with this house : I like the last plans 
 which I have received, the best. — I shall 
 certainly not meddle with the exterior any 
 further than putting it into complete repair; 
 I think to modernize the whole of the 
 interior, except the entrance hall and great 
 gallery. Thus it will bear with it all the 
 character of its antiquity, and all the advan- 
 tage ofmodern comfort. Mr. Lamb approves 
 this idea, and I think, unless your taste sup^ 
 plies any other ideas, that I shall begin as 
 soon as possible after the twenty-fourth. — I 
 hope Blades will not fail to send down men 
 to remove the marquees from Stantley to 
 my grounds in time, and if you are driving 
 that way, pray have the goodness to spur up^ 
 Baber to forward the awning for the dancing. 
 — I have written by this post to Emily, 
 and if you see the Duke, pray second my 
 invitation to him to accompany the Countess. 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 William Paston, 
 
CCELEBS SUITEP. 151 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to C. Rastock, Esq. 
 
 Faith, Charles, I know not when lam 
 to return to the quiet shades of Fairland, 
 for I seem likely to have much more to do 
 than I calculated upon when I left you. 
 Our friend Coelebs has at last met his Lady 
 Priscilla, and writes to me in so rapturous 
 a strain, that I think matrimony must ensue. 
 She appears by his letters exactly to answer 
 the description he has so frequently had of her 
 from Lady Beaufield. He popped accidentally 
 upon her at Stantley Park, and unobserved 
 by her, drew such large draughts of love, as 
 would have turned a much stronger head 
 than our friend's. He sees in her all he 
 wishes, and I hear from other quarters that 
 she is a very deserving woman. I read a 
 letter I had received from him to the 
 Marquis; he laughed most heartily at his 
 fanciful account of her occupations, and 
 thinks he shall fall in love with Lady Hebe, 
 
152 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 who is in many respects the reverse of her 
 sister. Sir William Paston is at present at 
 his mother's preparing for the entertainment 
 he intends giving on his coming of age; 
 and as the business in parliament seems 
 likely to be satisfactorily concluded, I hope 
 I shall be able to accept a very pressing 
 invitation I have had to accompany the 
 Marquis. If Ccelebs is sufficiently rapid in 
 his advances, we may have a double wedding, 
 for Sir William is immediately to marry Miss 
 Lamb. I had the pleasure of calling at 
 the Countess Villette's this morning ; they 
 leave town for the Elms to-morrow. They 
 had received from Sir William an account 
 of the ploughing match at Stantley Park, 
 which had amused them very much. He 
 does not view the rural fetes with the same 
 eye as our friend, and had treated the 
 Marquis with an account of it too. It might 
 have passed off very well, but that unfortu- 
 nately a drunken squabble between two 
 ploughmen for the right of the hand of their 
 Blouzelind, set the. whole lawn in confusiono 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 153 
 
 Lord Stantley was knocked down in 
 endeavouring to part them, and his fail 
 was a signal for a general battle. The ladies 
 fortunately escaped to the house, but night 
 alone put an end to the furious contention. 
 His Lordship was severely hurt, but sets 
 the best face he can upon the matter, and 
 rejoices in the prowess of his countrymen. 
 I am to dine to-morrow with our worthy 
 member. — The bill is to be read a third time 
 on Thursday, and is expected to pass without 
 opposition ; some restrictions have been 
 proposed, which will hinder its becoming a 
 speculation for private advantage : this 
 seems to point at some of our neighbours. 
 I hope I shall not be suspected of advising 
 the clause, though I think it right. If it 
 does pass, I think to leave town with the 
 -Marquis for Sir John Beaufield's, for having 
 been first invited to his house, etiquette will 
 demand that I should accept his offer before 
 Sir William's. You know I hate to throw 
 myself in the way of the tender looks, and 
 half-expressed, half-stifled sighs of conscious 
 
154: CCELEB5 SUITED. 
 
 lovers, and there I shall scarcely be able 
 to escape them. 
 
 Besides our friend Ccelebs, Sir William 
 Paston is playing the dying swain, and 
 sighing out his soul to Miss Lamb. I hear 
 much in praise of this family, and think Sir 
 William's choice highly to the credit of 
 his judgment and taste. I have some fear 
 that the infection may be catching, and 
 scarcely can make up my mind to trust 
 myself among them. The very air will be 
 loaded with amorous whispers : 
 
 "Each bids the stream in murmurs speak his flame ; 
 •* Each calls the grove to sing her much-lov'd name.'* 
 
 The Marquis's company may be some relief, 
 however ; for if Ccelebs opens his attack 
 in form, he will claim so much of Sir John's 
 attention, that I shall necessarily be over- 
 looked ; and if the ladies interest themselves 
 for him, it will become the great concern 
 of the day. You must have remarked how 
 very much women interest themselves about 
 these affairs. If a man is going to be 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 155 
 
 married his most intimate friend seldom 
 interferes further then to play off a few- 
 jokes upon his happy prospects, and to hint 
 slightly at the jollity he quits, and the grief 
 his old acquaintances will feel at the loss of 
 his company; though he may promise not 
 entirely to desert them, yet the universal 
 sway of woman and the rigour of petticoat 
 government is slightly touched upon. He 
 marries with this idea impressed upon him ; 
 that though he may find much happiness, yet 
 that he must purchase it by some sacrifices. — 
 Not so the female sex. They seem to consider 
 the approaching marriage of their friend as 
 the means of increasing her happiness, and 
 forward it by every kindness and assistance. 
 They attend her to the altar, and officiously 
 exert every power they possess to give her 
 confidence and ease, while the bridegroom, 
 accompanied by his intimate relations, is 
 only cheered perhaps, by the kind ad- 
 monitions of his mother, or grandmother. 
 The women do certainly attend more to 
 the duties of society than men, they are 
 
156 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 of a more sociable nature. On my return 
 to Ireland you must positively take me 
 in for a short time, and gradually accustom 
 me to the quiet and seclusion of Fairland. 
 
 With best remembrances to all friends, 
 
 Believe me, yours, truly, 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 157 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 On Tuesday last, previous to the Opera, 
 Ihad the pleasure of a tete-a-tete dinner with 
 the Marquis, in Piccadilly. He is remarkably 
 sumptuous in his establishment, and lives in 
 great splendour and elegance. Every thing 
 about him bespeaks an elevation of character, 
 and I hear that his benevolence is universal, 
 and his charity large and well applied. The 
 style of his furniture is on the model of those 
 specimens of true taste which Mr. T. Hope 
 has displayed in his house, and which I have 
 an invitation to examine when I have more 
 leisure. The Marquis paid a just tribute to 
 this gentlemans true feeling for works of 
 art, whom he thinks very highly of. After 
 dinner, Ccelebs , journey was mentioned. 
 " He has taken up/' said his Lordship, "a 
 most confined notion of the education proper 
 
15$ CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 for a women of fortune," " The character 
 of Lady Priscilla," returned I, " seems so to 
 have fascinated him ; that to object to any 
 part of it, is almost to offend him." " He 
 encourages the strange idea," returned the 
 Marquis, " that accomplishments and do- 
 mestic virtues, that elegance and economy, are 
 incompatible; he has heard that Lady Pris- 
 cilla, does a great deal, and does not consider 
 that she might do a great deal more, both 
 to cultivate her own talents, and to amuse 
 and instruct others. The character I have 
 heard of her is very far from fascinating me. 
 Chaq'un son gout. To a man incessantly 
 and wholly engaged in the ardent pursuit of 
 wealth, who sleeps for his hour after dinner, 
 and then returns to his counting house, such 
 a women may be a useful companion, and 
 with such a man, a woman of elegance and 
 accomplishment is badly suited ; she loses, 
 from his neglect of them, those arts she 
 has spent much time to acquire, and much 
 pains to keep. But these arts are necessary 
 to engage and secure the affections of a man 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 159 
 
 of taste. Let us recollect Addison's defini- 
 tion of accomplishment, for I detest the 
 newly adopted term, acquisition, which 
 conveys no precise idea or meaning, as we 
 may acquire wealth or honors, or what not; 
 I think he defines accomplishment to be 
 'Elegance of mind or body.' How praise- 
 worthy, how desirable to obtain ! Let us 
 look to the authority of Richardson, he savs, 
 'All that a woman can learn above the use- 
 ful knowledge proper to her sex, let her 
 learn;' and in drawing the character of 
 Clarissa Harlowe (which when the females 
 of the present day have reached the excel- 
 lence of, all farther hints at improvement 
 will be needless) he says, < The delight she 
 gave by her skilland great compass in singing 
 was heightened by the ease and gracefulness 
 of her air and manner;' and lie' describes 
 her as an extraordinary judge of 'painting.' 
 and a good artist. Nearly in the'same terms 
 too, he describes Miss Birori:''''Mi'fon's 
 character of Eve has been pressed 
 into the service of these ad'vdcUtes^ -for 
 
l60 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 the uselessness of accomplishments. But 
 the poet has decked her with every perfection 
 her situation was capable of, and the skill and 
 taste she possessed, she exerted to the utmost; 
 but the reasoning is futile, that because Eve 
 did .not sing to the angel Raphael, or shew 
 sketches of the garden of Eden, that there- 
 fore her daughthers are to neglect these arts. 
 By a parody of reasoning, we may send 
 the king to parliament in a brown surtout, 
 for we find Adam described going forth 
 to meet an angel thus : 
 
 " In himself was all his state, 
 
 " More solemn than the tedious pomp of princes." 
 
 If the question were to be tried by the 
 opinions of the most excellent writers on 
 this subject, it would quickly be decided ; 
 Richardson I have before mentioned. Locke, 
 had he written of female education, would 
 certainly not have denied to women the 
 study of elegant accomplishments, since he 
 recommends to men the practice of dancing, 
 fencing, and riding. The interesting and 
 elegant Rousseau says, * Forbid not young 
 
CCELEliS SUITED. l6l 
 
 women to acquire those arts which have 
 a tendency to render them agreeable. Why 
 refuse them the indulgence of learning to 
 dance, to sing, to study such other accomplish- 
 ments, as afterwards enable them to entertain 
 their husbands ; and the Marquise de Lambert 
 whose advice to her son and daughter ought 
 to be read by every one who has children 
 to educate, says, 'Les graces sans meVite, ne 
 plaisant pas long terns : et le merite sans graces 
 peut se faire estimer sans toucher : II faut 
 done que les femmes ayent un merite amiable, 
 et quelles joignent les graces aun vertus." 
 " Since I have been in England," said I, 
 " it has appeared to me that unfortunately, 
 by some people, ignorance of these elegancies 
 is recommended, and that they are to 
 be confined to those only, to whom they 
 are to provide the means of living." " It is 
 but too true," replied the Marquis. — " But," 
 said I, " if this were to obtain, upon what 
 terms could we expect to hear and see those 
 exhibitions which now delight us. If the 
 professors of music, dancing, and drawing. 
 
lt)2 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 drew their subsistence from those public 
 exhibitions only, what rate of payment 
 could enable them to live as men of such 
 pretensions have a just right to expect. I 
 know not whether your Lordship was 
 acquainted with the wife of the late "Mr. 
 Ccelebs ? She was held up as a model for 
 imitation." u And justly too," replied the 
 Marquis, "as far as her abilities went; I saw 
 her only once, but by report she was an ex- 
 cellent woman ; virtuous, well-read, charita- 
 ble, and domestic ; such a character indeed 
 as everv woman ought to be, but where rank 
 and -affluence are their fortunate lot with 
 the charms of polished life superadded, 
 • Alike to virtue and the graces known/ 
 I have the pleasure of being acquainted with 
 a family of seven daughters," continued he, 
 "whom I would instance as patterns for the 
 sex; and happily for the country they are now 
 dispersed in different parts of the kingdom, 
 being all married to men of rank and 
 opulence. They write correctly, and speak 
 fluently both French and Italian'; understand 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 163 
 
 music thoroughly, and play with judgment 
 and taste; they likewise draw with great 
 spirit and effect. They were instructed in 
 these things but as apart of their education ; 
 nothing that could make them good women 
 and good wives was neglected, and the great 
 principle of being constantly well employed, 
 was insisted upon by their excellent mother. 
 They are now, in every sense of the word, 
 good wives; they understand and practice 
 an exact economy, distribute their charities 
 with judgment, and without ostentation, 
 are entertaining and agreeable companions 
 to sensible men, who feel a conscious happi- 
 ness in their own good fortunes in obtaining 
 so much perfection." Our very interesting 
 conversation was broken off by the servant 
 announcing the carriage. 
 
 In the Marquis's box we found the 
 Countess Villette and Miss Lamb, attended 
 by the Due de Belgarde, so well known for 
 his patriotism and his misfortunes. The 
 Marquis introduced me to him, and behaved 
 to him with the polite attention so justly due 
 m 2 
 
1,64 co:lees suited. 
 
 to him. " He is," said he afterwards, u a 
 man of the nicest honor, and most strict 
 integrity. He had fortunately secured a 
 small annuity in the English funds, and 
 could never be prevailed upon to accept 
 any assistance from the government of this 
 country. During the time he was employed 
 in the expedition in which his favorite 
 nephew, the Count Villette, fell, he received 
 the pay of his rank, as he had an appearance 
 to support, but on its failure and consequent 
 return, he would never accept even the 
 arrears that were due to him." 
 
 The Opera was well attended, and went off 
 with spirit, Catalani was in fine voice, and 
 exerted herself with much effect; and I was 
 as much pleased with Naldi, as the Marquis 
 had give me reason to expect. I was indeed 
 highly delighted with the performance, and 
 the good Duke and Countess forgot for an 
 instant, in the charms of the music and the 
 brilliancy of the scenery, their misfortunes 
 and their fall. We retired early, as the 
 Marquis had engaged a small party to supper. 
 
C CELEBS SUITED. 165 
 
 The Countess and her friends accompanied 
 us, and I had soon the pleasure of seeing 
 Lord and Lady Erston, whom I have not 
 met for many years, and their lovely 
 daughter, enter the room. About twenty 
 sat down to supper, among whom were 
 Madame Catalani, Naldi, and the Knyvetts. 
 His Lordship once said to me, "I am as 
 particular about the character as the talents 
 of my professional visitors, and I would no 
 more receive them without the one than 
 without the other." After a very elegant 
 supper we adjourned to the music room; it is 
 circular, with a dome, painted in arabesque, 
 after the logic of Raffaelle, and lighted 
 by a beautiful lamp suspended in the 
 centre. The Marquis accompanied Madame 
 Catalani on the violincello with great taste ; 
 and after a very delightful treat from Naldi, 
 the Knyvetts, and Miss Lamb, we retired at 
 the reasonable hour of one. — If my own 
 private affairs, and your friendship did not 
 solicit my return, I know not when I should 
 quit this charming societv. The Marquis. 
 
166 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 however, promises to accompany me, which 
 I am sure will gratify as much as it 
 pleases me. 
 
 Yours, &c. &c. 
 
 Geo, Rover. 
 
 j. 
 
CCELEB3 SUITED. 
 
 167 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I have been so much employed 
 in viewing the wonders of every description 
 with which this town abounds, that I have 
 not had time to answer your two last letters 
 'till this moment. The Marquis, who has 
 been my constant companion since Ccelebs^ 
 left town, being engaged at the House of 
 Lords, I shall occupy the leisure his absence 
 Hives me from other amusements, in 
 writing to you. I have, been with him 
 to the~ Royal Academy, Somerset House, 
 the British Museum, to Mr. T. Hope's, 
 Lord Elgin's and several other private 
 collections of pictures and statues. 
 
 At the Royal Academy the exhibition is 
 chiefly made up of portraits and landscape. 
 The first, unless when presenting the 
 resemblance of some great public character, 
 can create but little interest; however, 
 
168 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 the artists in this line have made great 
 strides towards perfection, and the pictures 
 of Phillips and Owen approach nearer to 
 the splendid performance of the old masters 
 than any thing I ever saw. As scarcely any 
 body thinks of purchasing from the pictures 
 which are here exhibited, it has become 
 the shew room of portrait-painters. This is 
 not creditable to the institution, which ought 
 to have given a marked encouragement to 
 poetic and historical designs. This principle 
 ought.to.be impressed upon the public; 
 and indeed, how much better would it be 
 to. decorate a town hall, or other building, 
 with a picture of some brilliant action of 
 a hero's life than merely to place his portrait 
 there ; marking no particular service, and 
 putting him on a level with his worship the 
 mayor, and those common- councilmen who 
 had vanity enough tc present their effigies 
 to the worthy corporation. As to the 
 generality of portraits which are transmitted 
 as heir looms, and mount by degrees from 
 the drawing room to the chambers, and: 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 1&9 
 
 from the chambers to the garrets, in 
 proportion to the distance of the relation- 
 ship, as they give bread to deserving men, 
 I would not abuse them ; but I only mean 
 to say, that these things should not be made 
 so principal as in this exhibition they appear 
 to be. We sat down in the middle of the 
 room, and looking casually over the catalogue 
 I perceived that there were near nine- 
 hundred performances. Thus had we to 
 reckon, the number of artists who exhibit 
 here, and you will scarce believe it, when I 
 tell you that they amount to nearly five 
 hundred. Besides these, there are a great 
 number of clever men who will not be at 
 the expence or trouble of exhibiting. 
 
 I remarked this to the Marquis: " They 
 have,' 1 said he, " wonderfully increased of 
 late years. In the early exhibition of this 
 Institution they did not amount to more 
 than one-third. The ease with which 
 students get admission here, and thereby 
 enjoy the opportunity of studying from 
 the best models, the small expence their 
 
170 CCELELS SUITED. 
 
 parents are at to provide them with the 
 necessary materials for drawing, and the 
 hopes every one has that his son will prove 
 a great genius, certainlymultiplies the number 
 of artists. But the walks in the art are 
 numerous, and require various abilities. If 
 a young man does not prove himself equal 
 to the first line, he must descend until he 
 -finds the level of his talent. And indeed to 
 obtain great artists, which is the object of 
 .this Institution, and the pride of all polished 
 societies, we must proceed on this plan. If 
 ■in- making ten men painters, we made ten 
 artists,, then their numbers must be limitted, 
 fcs in '-ordinary trades; but as out of fifty 
 painters there may not be one artist, these 
 •persons j must apply the talents they have, 
 aided by their own industry, and the 
 opportunities they have enjoyed to please 
 persons of a less refined taste, but who 
 equally wish to encourage and support 
 the ar.ts, or at least to see themselves and 
 their families displayed in splendid gold 
 frames, and ornamenting trheir houses. 
 
CGELEBS SUITED. 171 
 
 "The idea that the profession is over, 
 stocked," continued the Marquis, "is I 
 believe not true, at least, when compared 
 with other professions. Some in all 'profes- 
 sions will have more to do than they can 
 well manage, and among the rest, there 
 will always be a struggle for employ." 
 
 " Your Lordship," said I, "would make 
 one believe that every thing we see is for 
 the beat"*-"! do say so," returned the 
 Marquis. "I know that if we had the 
 arrangement of -all these things, de novo, 
 we should not exactly place them on the 
 footing they are at present; but at the 
 same time, I think, that a very few years 
 would see them so." 
 
 We left the great room, and descended 
 to the apartments chiefly appropriated for 
 drawings in water colours. Here we re- 
 marked a magnificent drawing by tin 
 architect of the name of Gandy.— " Here 
 now," said the Marquis, "is a man wlio 
 ought to be consulted on any 'public Vork 
 ehat iu&Kt be in agitation. I know hot bfe 
 
I 7% CALEBS SUITED. 
 
 abilities as a practical architect, but Lis 
 skill in effect, and his chaste and classical 
 knowledge, ought to bring him forward." 
 On the ground floor is a room dedicated 
 to architectural designs and statuary. The 
 former are seldom of greater consequence 
 than elevations for villas, or cottages ; 
 what the artist modestly assures you are 
 picturesque. The statuary, I am told, 
 is improving, and indeed well it may, 
 for the public monuments are a great 
 revenue for it. I think, however, that all 
 modern statuary is too smooth ; it wants 
 articulation. 
 
 You know what a treat fine statuary is 
 to me, and I have been very much gratified 
 at Lord Elgin's'. The collection, it is said, 
 is to be purchased by government, and 
 placed in the British Museum: the marbles 
 too at this latter place are very good, and 
 most admirably arranged. It is open to 
 the public four days in the week, and this 
 opportunity must in the end, though insen- 
 sibly, infuse a better taste into all ranks 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 1?3 
 
 of the people. Here is a large and very 
 fine collection of Etruscan vases. The 
 varieties of their form, and the elegance of 
 their pencilling, is truly admirable. I think 
 it is to be regretted that they did not employ 
 a greater variety of colour. They have 
 some very ancient armour too, and I 
 remarked that it would scarcely have litted 
 an ordinary-sized man of our days. The 
 helmets bear pretty good proof of the 
 advantage of such a defence. Every sort 
 of antique curiosity is admirably displayed 
 in glass cases, even to iron and brass nails ; 
 I looked for a screw but could not find one. 
 But I will not forestall the pleasure I expect, 
 in minutelv describing to vou all these things; 
 they will serve us for many a long evening 
 when no other matter more interesting call 
 for our attention. In the present state of 
 affairs, I hardly know when this can be. 
 Every day teems with proposals for amend- 
 ments and alteration-. May we live to see 
 the good effects of what has been already 
 done, and have j)ower to place bounds to 
 
174 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 the spirit of reform. My servant has just 
 brought me word that the Bishop of 
 London is dead. His dissolution has been 
 daily expected, and his advanced age gave 
 but little hopes of his living either to enjoy 
 himself or benefit others. This last he has 
 done more than most men, and he carries 
 with him to the grave the grateful remem- 
 brance of all the good. 
 
 Patrick begins to feel the amor patriae 
 very strong upon him, and inquires most 
 affectionately after all the neighbourhood, 
 as often as he brings in any letters from 
 Ireland. He seems uncomfortable at every 
 movement that has not a tendency towards 
 home, and however he may like the skim- 
 mings of the rich Camacho's kettles, I doubt 
 not but he would rather solace himself with 
 more moderate cheer at Fairland Hall. He 
 has learnt from the Marquis's servants, that 
 we are to join the party at Sir William's, 
 and has been rather uneasy about it. 
 He hopes, however, that we shall not 
 return to London, and then calculates 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 1/5 
 
 upon our being so much nearer home. I 
 partake a little of Patrick's feeling, but 
 hoping for the pleasure of the Marquis's 
 company is a great inducement for me 
 
 to make mv time his. 
 
 Make my best remembrances to all our 
 neighbours who may mil in your way, 
 and with compliments to Mrs. Rastock, 
 
 Believe me, ever yours, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. - 
 
UG CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs, Esq. to Sir Geo. Rover, 
 Bart. 
 
 Dear Sir George, 
 
 I AM happy to see by the papers 
 that your bill is likely to pass on Thursday. 
 As this will relieve you for your attendance 
 in London. Sir George desires me to 
 repeat his request that you will favour him 
 with your company at Beautield Lodge. As 
 the Marquis will be at Sir William Paston's, 
 and great preparations are making to 
 celebrate his, Sir William's, entering his 
 twenty-fifth year, he expects to be able to give 
 you an agreeable week. Tuesday morning, 
 according to my appointment, I rode over to 
 Stantley to inspect the farms. —I was very 
 kindly received, and had the pleasure of a 
 reproof from Lady Prisciiia for not coining 
 to breakfast. " Papa," said she, "certainly 
 expected you, and we all felt disappointed at 
 your neglect." I apologized for my inatten- 
 tion, which could only have proceeded from 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 177 
 
 "my unwillingness to intrude upon them at so 
 early an hour. 
 
 His Lordship entered the room, and 
 repeated these kind expressions. " Before 
 we take our hats,*' said he, "lest other occu- 
 pations should drive it from my recollection, 
 pray make my compliments to Sii George 
 Beaufield, and tell him that I have received 
 his paper, on manure, and will give" it the 
 attention it deserves. My time I consider as 
 dedicated to the cause of good farming, 
 and though the necessary experiments will 
 confine me for some weeks to my study, yet I 
 shall think myself bound to ascertain exactly 
 my positions before I make my theory public/' 
 — How noble ! how patriotic ! is this con- 
 duct. Figure to yourself a nobleman of 
 the first rank and fortune confining himself, 
 in the heat of the month of May, to his study, 
 surrounded by every species of these filthy 
 compositions, and extracting from them even 
 more than their general bad smell, by his 
 experiments upon them, for the purpose of 
 perfecting so useful a science. Lady Prisciila 
 N 
 
178 CCELEB3 SUITED. 
 
 excused herself for a few moments — " Laciv 
 Priscilla takes upon her/' said his Lordship, 
 " to relieve her mother from all the duties 
 of the house." Turning to his younger 
 
 O J- CI 
 
 daughter who was reading, " My dear Hebe,*' 
 said he, " when are you to take your turn 
 at these employs." — "Whenever you wish it, 
 papa," replied her Ladyship. " My sister's 
 kindness seems at present to make it unne- 
 cessary." — Lady Priscilla now returned, and 
 we immediately walked to the poultry yard, 
 or rather garden, for a more delightful spot 
 I never saw. 
 
 The range of houses for the occupations of 
 these favourites of the feathered tribe, (for 
 these indeed seem to be particularly fortunate 
 in their lot, ) forms three sides of an irregular 
 octagon. They are erected on a lawn sloping 
 down to a small canal. Every thing bespoke 
 the most exact attention to cleanliness and 
 order. The little animals seemed to feel all 
 the comforts of their situation, and were 
 basking in the genial warmth of the sun, when 
 the entrance of Lady Priscilla put them all 
 
C(ELEBS SUITED. 179 
 
 in motion, and they hastened to receive from 
 her hand their wonted allowance. — I was 
 delighted with her kindness to them, and 
 participated with her in the grief it occasion- 
 ally gave her in ordering them for the supply 
 of the table. From hence we went to the 
 piggery, exhibiting the same neatness and 
 cleanliness, and the animal which we always 
 held up to detestation as a monster of filth 
 and dirt, appears here to possess better in- 
 clinations, if he could more generally be 
 indulged in them. " I will now," said her 
 Ladyship, " attend you to the dairy, and 
 there ends my province." I felt an inexpres- 
 sible glow at the mention of the dairy, and 
 was so occupied by the recollection of my 
 first sight of her there, that his Lordship 
 remarked my absence of mind, and enquired 
 if I were wearied by my walk. — I started at 
 the question, and made a thousand excuses 
 for my inattention, and begged him to 
 believe that I was solely occupied with the 
 contemplation of what I had just seen, When 
 we arrived in front of the Marble room, as 
 
180 CCELEB5 SUITED. 
 
 it is called, " This building," said his Lord- 
 ship, " was from the design of my late father, 
 and is very elegant. Its exterior I shall pre- 
 serve with great care. The birds and plants 
 I have given to Mr. Lamb, who very much 
 admired them ; indeed so did I, and my 
 daughters, particularly Hebe ; but they with- 
 drew their attention from other things, many 
 of them of more consequence." As we en- 
 tered the dairy I dreaded a discovery of my 
 late visit there, through the loquacity of the 
 servant, and was greatly relieved by finding 
 another girl in her place. I learnt from 
 Lord Stantley that she had been hurt at the 
 little fracas after the ploughing match, and 
 had been confined to her room ever since. 
 Though I was sorry for the girl's misfortune, 
 I was inclined to rejoice at any thing that 
 kept her out of the way at present. Every 
 thing was in the same order as I had 
 before seen it, which appeared- to be the 
 effect of general good arrangement, and 
 settled rule. — Lady Priscilla presented us 
 with some cream, and then took her leave • 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 181 
 
 to attend other occupations. ' " She is 
 never idle,"' said his Lordship, " the surest 
 pledge of the proper turn of her mind, and 
 the good effect of the education she has 
 received." 
 
 The horses had been ordered here, and 
 we rode over the different experiment farms. 
 Every thing bespoke the agriculturist, aided 
 by the mind of the philosopher. He is par- 
 ticularly attentive to the improvement of the 
 breed of a curious sort of guinea pig, to 
 which he hopes to attach his own name, and 
 lias by crosses so increased its size, as pro- 
 mises shortly to make it an object of more 
 general consideration. — ''We shall pass,"' 
 said his Lordship, "near to my neighbour 
 Mr. Lamb's, I will take the opportunity of 
 introducing you to him." I thanked his 
 Lordihip for this fresh proof of his kind- 
 ness. 
 
 I nthe library we found Mr. Lamb instruct- 
 ing his younger daughter in the use of the 
 globes. The elder was copying a beautiful 
 landscape drawing. The Countess Yillette 
 
182 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 and Lady Hebe Stantley, were amusing 
 themselves with the Countess's little son. 
 Mr. Lamb is about fifty, tall, handsome, and 
 when free from the attacks of the gout 
 with which he is much troubled, remarkably 
 active. 
 
 Mrs. Lamb has been dead some years, 
 and he has given his whole time and atten- 
 tion to the education of his daughters. He 
 is as great an advocate for accomplishments 
 as Lord Stantley is for the absence of them, 
 but the subject has so frequently been dis- 
 cussed without bringing conviction to either 
 of the fallacy of their arguments, that they 
 have declared a truce, and the subject has 
 been suffered to die away. After the first 
 salutation, his Lordship said, " I see, Mr. 
 Lamb, you still' fascinate my Hebe. My 
 love," said he to her, "I thought you were 
 very earnest in your examination of the 
 book I left you with." — " I found some dif- 
 ficulties, papa, which I could not overcome," 
 said she; " and hearing that the Countess 
 Villette had arrived, I took the opportunity 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 18S 
 
 of requesting her assistance. My sister was 
 not quite ready, but will be here in a short 
 time I hope, as we are going to walk to 
 Lady PastonV As she spoke Lady Priscilla 
 entered, and shortly after Sir William 
 Paston. 
 
 Mr. Lamb excused himself for quitting 
 Stantley House, so early after the ploughing 
 match, especially as he had since heard that 
 his presence might have been of use. His 
 Lordship thanked him and said, "I like to 
 witness these ebullitions of my countrymen's 
 spirit. 1 prefer it infinitely to the dull plea- 
 sure of a German boor, or the frisky capering 
 of a Frenchman. I beg pardon, Countess, 
 for making use of this allusion." "I can never 
 take offence at anything, LordStantley says," 
 returned the Countess, "and the present 
 application, I take as a compliment." — 
 ;: Nations as well as individuals, have 
 their character;" said Mr. Lamb. "L T nfor- 
 tunatcly with us, a day of pastime, a holiday, 
 must include drinking. ' Oh that men will 
 put an enemy into their mouths to steal away 
 
1S4 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 their brains ;' but so it is with us. We are 
 not made for frolick and fun. At least we 
 have so little very fine weather, that we 
 d not acquire a proper relish for those 
 enjoyments in which the Frenchman and the 
 Italian takes the greatest delight. Our long 
 winter obliges us to cherish the comforts of 
 our fire side, and it is in our domestic 
 relations and duties, that we shew an example 
 to the rest of the world." — "In these, unfor- 
 tunately," said Lord Stantley, we are far 
 from perfect. But I fear, until our natures 
 are perfected, it must be so. Convenience 
 too often joins together those whom no other 
 nature operates upon, and what good can 
 arise from such matches?" — ci It was an 
 opinion once expressed by Dr. Johnson," 
 said Air. Lamb", but I know not whether he 
 was earnest in it, or only sported it for an 
 argument, that if the Lord Chancellor 
 arranged all marriages with a proper reference 
 to age and circumstances, the world would 
 be benefited. I do not, however, approve 
 the idea, or sanction its propriety." " I 
 
CCELECS SUITED. 1 85 
 
 cannot at all agree with the Doctor," said 
 Sir William Pastbn, " unless an application 
 was to be made from the parlies themselves. 
 I should then go with him." Sir William 
 now attracted our attention to the beautiful 
 drawing which Miss Lamb was preparing 
 to copv, and we very much admired ir. 
 " My papa," said she, " has finished the 
 <*reen house and aviarv from the drawings I 
 made of your Lordship's beautiful building, 
 and the plants are entirely arranged. I hope 
 to complete the catalogue of them in a few 
 days." His Lordship smiled, and hinted 
 that he was glad to have heard she had so 
 very pleasing a motive for expedition. 
 
 Vv r e now took our leave, and accompanied 
 by Lady lYiscilla and Lady Hebe walked to 
 Lady Paston's. She is a nice primitive old 
 Jady, and her daughters were digging in the 
 garden. I thought the occupation rather 
 too young for them, but was convinced by 
 his Lordship of their good sense, and 
 propriety of not giving up too soon those 
 pleasures which wc have still a relish for. — 
 
186* C CELEBS SUITED. 
 
 To-morrow we dine at Stantley Park. Pray 
 let me bear from you on Friday. I hope it 
 will be to announce your intention of accom- 
 panying tbe Marquis. 
 
 Make my best compliments to him, &c. 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs. 
 
CCEEEBS SUITED. 187 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs, Esq. to Sir Geo. Rover, 
 Bart. 
 
 Dear Sir George, 
 
 You will receive this very quiclHy 
 after my last, but I wish to request you 
 will, with the key herewith sent, open 
 my writing desk, and send by the coach, 
 the packet of papers, labelled, " Copies of 
 letters of the late Mrs. Ccelebs." I have 
 promised Lady Stantley the perusal of them, 
 and I wish much to have them before the 
 approach of Sir William Paston's fete drives 
 all such things far away. 
 
 We dined at Stantley Park on Wednesday, 
 Mr. Lamb, and his two daughters, Countess 
 Villette, Lady Paston, her son and daughters 
 were of the party. We spent a very pleasant 
 day. Lady Stantley acquits herself re- 
 markably well at the head of her table, and 
 possesses the art of making everyone happy. 
 Nothing particular occurred at dinner. 
 When we attended our summons to coffee, 
 
15B CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 we had the pleasure to find it had been 
 served in the Marble room, and that the 
 younger ladies of the party were waiting 
 to escort us. Sir William, of course, 
 soon made his election, and I seized the 
 opportunity of walking with Lady Priscilla : 
 such a - moment was not to be lost. I 
 therefore began by expressing the sense I 
 entertained of the right direction her 
 excellent mother's instructions had given 
 to her pursuits, and, as I thought I perceived 
 she listened with pleasure, I led the discourse 
 to the loss which her own family, and the 
 neighbourhood, must have to regret when 
 her destiny should lead her to fulfil more 
 extensive duties, and act in a larger sphere. 
 She replied, that her inclination as well 
 as her education had led her to consider 
 that to perform her duty, whatever it might 
 be, was her highest praise ; as to the part 
 she at present took, her sister Hebe, who 
 now felt it unnecessary, would then apply to 
 it, and her love for her mama would never 
 suffer her to feel the change. ""How happy T 
 
CCELEBS. SUITED. 199 
 
 said I, " had we more Lady Stautleys, and 
 could the instructions so judiciously given 
 be always to well seconded by the delicacy 
 and sensibility of the pupil !*' " You flatter," 
 said she, "as much as Lord Launton.'' i'.Is 
 Lord Launton a neighbour ?— is he a 
 frequent visitor at Stantley,*' said I, ."with 
 some emotion." "Oh yes, 1 ' replied she, "his 
 Lordship seldom misses a day without 
 calling, when he is in the country ; his 
 estate joins Mr. Lamb's. — He was here 
 yesterday, and we were disappointed, of 
 seeing him to dinner to-day, by the necessity 
 of his attendance in London .upon .some 
 particular business.' 1 • Here ended the con- 
 versation on my side ; and indeed here 
 ended all my attention to Lady PriscUla, — I 
 had not courage to • ask more about his 
 Lordship, -and as the subject wandered 
 to other matters, and my mind was entirely 
 occupied by what I • had just heard, I 
 moved forward without animation, and 
 felt all the terrors of despair, and torments 
 of jcalousv. Lord Launton here every 
 
190 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 day, thought I — Lord Launton flatter her ? 
 and to boast of it too ! How shall I 
 reconcile this with the hopes Lady Beaufield 
 has given me ! 
 
 I entered the room more like a statue 
 of despondency, then the happy and delighted 
 Ceelebs, who had lately caught with alacrity 
 and joy the opportunity of conversing with 
 this idol of my heart. As I advanced to 
 the table, Lady Stantley kindly inquired 
 if I were unwell, and the attention of Lady 
 Beaufield, and the rest of the company, 
 brought me to a sense of the necessity 
 of disguising my feelings. I rallied as well 
 as I could, and passed it off, as the effect 
 of a slight head-ache. " I fear we have 
 disturbed you too soon after dinner," said 
 his Lordship. " Let me recommend to 
 you, this cup of coffee, " said Lady Priscilla, 
 presenting me with a cup, in a manner so 
 enchanting, as immediately to drive Lord 
 Launton from my mind. Stiil I could not 
 entirely divest myself o( the recollection, 
 and anticipated the time of quitting the 
 
CCS LEES SUITED. 191 
 
 house, with as much pleasure as I ever had 
 expected the moment of entering it. The 
 evening closing in, we returned to the 
 drawing room, and after a rubber of whist, 
 we retired. 
 
 * The carriage door was scarcely shut, 
 before I enquired about Lord Launton ; 
 Lady Beaufieid in a moment guessed the 
 cause of my illness, and in the most glowing 
 colours described his Lordship's person, and 
 elegant accomplishments. " He is heir to 
 a large fortune, and is at present, in search 
 of a companion to share his honors, and 
 complete his felicity." " Lady Beaufieid,"' 
 said I, in the greatest agitation, " you 
 torture me beyond bearing ! plainly tell me, 
 is Lord Launton an admirer . of Lady 
 Priscilla*" " I scarcely know any one that 
 is not," said her Ladyship, " her virtues, — " 
 I interrupted her, " Pray, dear Lady Beau- 
 field, answer me to the point; excuse my 
 interrupting you, but this suspense is dread- 
 ful ■!■— Is Lord Launton a declared admirer 
 of Ladv Priscilla ?'-' "Why, indeed," said 
 
19£ CCELIIBS. SUITED. 
 
 Lady- Beaufield, smiling, "that would 
 be rather improper, considering that his 
 Lordship is expected to shortly marry the 
 rich ward of our neighbour, Colonel Ellis." 
 " I could worship you, Lady Beaufield," 
 said I, "for this kind information ! bu.J 
 how shall I repair my fault — how shall 
 I appear at S.tantley after the exhibition 
 I made of myself/' This difficulty cleared 
 away before brighter prospects ; and I slept 
 without any phantoms of lords and coronets 
 floating before me. 
 
 I rose early, and took my horse, to, 
 perform a penance on the spot where I had 
 transgressed. I recollected that it was not 
 churning morning, and that I should not. 
 intrude upon Lady Pris.cilla. After doing., 
 all that my fancy dictated to expiate my 
 folly, I walked into the dairy, and was glad 
 to find my old acquaintance again, per-, 
 forming her duties. I expressed myself, 
 happy to see her recovered. " The goodness , 
 of Lady Priscilla has help'd me on," said she, - 
 "faster than I otherwisc..shouJd ; and jL*adjf .. 
 
CALEBS SUITED. 193 
 
 Hebe took care of me too, for I was 
 sadly beaten. I was somehow got into 
 the middle of the scuffle ; I was trying to 
 help Margery, who was trying to part Tom 
 Styles and Great Jack, else I had nothing 
 to do in the piece of work — I see'd you 
 walking with Lady Priscilla, and I warrant 
 people did not talk about it at all ; I told 
 Lady Priscilla so yesterday morning, and she 
 laughed, I warrant; and I told her how you 
 com'd here, that morning, and repeated her 
 speech after her, and all about it. I thought 
 she would never have let me go ; for she 
 ask'd the same questions over and over again; 
 and wou'd know what chair you sat down in, 
 and which bowl you drank out of; and then 
 she sat down in the same chair, and drank 
 out of the same bowl; I warrant, she thought 
 I did not see her, but I peeped in, after she 
 sent me away, and there I see'd her."' I 
 was thunderstruck ! I sat motionless for 
 some time, then hastily taking my horse, 
 I gallopped home, and threw myself on 
 the bed J had quitted, to ' endeavour to 
 
r£4 C1ELEBS SUITED. 
 
 compose myself sufficiently to appear at 
 breakfast. Lady Beaufield inquired jocosely 
 after my night's rest. She had seen me 
 return through the Park on horseback ; and 
 asked, if I had been myself the messenger of a 
 challenge to Lord Launton ? As I had made 
 up my mind to the prosecution of my 
 addresses, and as Lady Beaufield had 
 kindly interested herself in my favour, I 
 thought it right- to acquaint her with my 
 morning's discovery, touching as slightly as 
 I could on the hopes which Lady Priscilla's 
 conduct led me to indulge. " You have 
 opened a conversation," said her Ladyship, 
 " which I intended to have commenced as 
 soon as the breakfast was dispatched. I 
 yesterday took an opportunity of mentioning 
 to Lady Stantley,' your attachment to her 
 daughter, and the high opinion which Sir 
 John had of your character and pretentions." 
 My agitation being extremely, evident, Lady 
 Beaufield kindly continued; "Lady Stantley 
 seemed pleased with the proposal, and said, 
 I have established for myself the rule, 
 

 CGELEBS SUITED. 1£5 
 
 never to interfere in directing my daughter's 
 affections, and I can only say, that 
 Mr. Ccelebs has my good wishes, both 
 on the score of his own merit, and his 
 ; ntimacy with you. Sir John, likewise 
 mentioned it to Lord Stantley, and it met 
 with him an equally agreeable reception." 
 Thus, dear Sir George, do I see myself 
 likely to realise the almost visionary scheme 
 of happiness I had pictured to myself; after 
 this declaration, I shall go immediately to 
 Stantley ; and I have imployed the leisure 
 between breakfast and the time that Lord 
 Stantley is at leisure to see visitors, in 
 writing to you. My horse is at the door. 
 
 Adieu, dear Sir George, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs, Esq. to Sir George 
 Rover, Bart. 
 
 Congratulate me, dear Sir George! 
 1 am just returned from Stantley, where 
 his Lordship received me with the greatest 
 kindness : " I will never," said he, " put the 
 least constraint on my daughter's inclinations; 
 Lady Stantley and myself have the same feeling 
 towards you, whose good sense in discerning 
 the propriety of our system of living, and the 
 justice of our principles of education, are a 
 strong recommendation. I am now obliged to 
 attend a meeting of the county magistrates, 
 and my horses are at the door; do me the favor 
 to attend me to the library?" I followed 
 him. Lady Stantley was alone. His Lord- 
 ship took me by the hand, and presenting 
 me to his Lady, " My love," said he, " I 
 had the pleasure of introducing Mr. Coelebs 
 to you some time since, as a friend of Sir 
 John Beaufield's, and therefore a welcome. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 197 
 
 visitor here — I have now the satisfaction 
 of numbering him amons mv own, and as I 
 am unavoidably summoned away, I leave him 
 to your particular care." He immediately 
 wished us good morning. Her Ladyship 
 then used the same kind expressions as Lord 
 Stantley had done. 
 
 I repeated my acknowledgements, and 
 mentioned the alarm I had had on account 
 of Lord Launton. "His Lordshipis a neigh- 
 bour of ours," said Lady Stantley, " but 
 M'e never viewed him in any other light than 
 a common acquaintance." Lady Hebe en- 
 tered, and Lady Stantley enquired after her 
 sister, and learnt that she was just gone to 
 the farm ; and as she was as yet ignorant of 
 my formal proposals, I took my leave, at the 
 same time receiving an invitation to dinner, 
 which I joyfully accepted. 
 
 On meeting Lady Priscilla in the drawing 
 room, I immediately perceived that she had 
 been made acquainted with my hopes, and I 
 augured well from my reception. After 
 dinner we walked into the Marble-room, 
 
198 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 and I took that opportunity of obtaining from 
 herself, though in a very imperfect and half 
 expressed manner, sufficient grounds whereon 
 to rise my most sanguine hopes of success. 
 
 Having succeeded thus far, I shall throw 
 aside all hesitation, and do my utmost to 
 forward our settlement. The country as it 
 has most charms, and most employments for 
 Lady Priscilla, is likewise particularly agree- 
 able to me; and in the continued round of 
 the varieties it affords, shall we pass our 
 time without satiety and without disgust. — I 
 know your predilection for what you term 
 the joys of society, my habits and inclinations 
 lead me to love a less extended sphere ; my 
 education has always had that direction, and 
 as I know that there are few females of the 
 present day, whose opinions would suit with 
 mine, I am grateful that providence has 
 been thus kind to me. When I look around 
 at those whose rank and life ought to raise 
 their conduct nearer to the standard of 
 perfection, how seldom do we see our 
 expectations realised, and instead of a 
 
CCELEBS StriTLD. 199 
 
 thankful recollection of the blessings they 
 enjov, we perceive a wanton indirrerence 
 to their great benefactor, and a proud display 
 of their own consequence. — I know there 
 are exceptions to this general censure. The 
 families at Stantley and Beaufleld rescue the 
 class from one common disgrace, and 1 feel 
 that there are a few more who deserve to be 
 discriminated. — But alas, how few !! 
 
 During the whole evening I almost felt the 
 weight of two much happiness, I was even 
 more silent than usual ; for I could scarcely 
 believe my senses, when I perceived myself 
 thus received into the bosom of a family so 
 congenial to my heart. 
 
 Ladv Priscilla is improving by a new 
 process the rearing of silk worms, and was 
 committing to paper the result of her expe- 
 riments, while Lady Stantley was at her 
 needle work, and Lady Hebe engaged with 
 her father in tracing the progress of our 
 countrvmen in Portugal. — I think you will 
 like Lady Hebe. — She has great ability, and 
 if she is fortunate enough to meet with a 
 
200 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 man who will direct her vivacity, restrain 
 a little her too lively feelings, and turn her 
 powers to their proper use, she will become 
 a valuable member of society. 
 
 In the hope of very soon seeing you, 
 I remain, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Caleb Ccelebs. 
 
CGELEBS 'SUITE*). 201 
 
 Sir William Paston to the Marquis 
 of Heron. 
 
 Dear Marquis, 
 
 I have been plagued to death 
 with these detestable marquees. The riot 
 at Stantley had made such havoc with them 
 that the men could not fix them for some 
 time. I have, however, at last got them 
 arranged, and I have arranged more than 
 this. I have agreed that Sir George Rover 
 shall remain at Beaufield Lodge from Friday 
 to the Thursday following, when he shall 
 become my inmate. 
 
 Cupid is very busy here. Ccelebs has 
 declared himself, and is received at Stantley 
 as a favored suitor, We dined there on 
 Wednesday, and spent a pleasanter day than 
 usual ; but the want of diversity must always 
 be felt. We talked before dinner, we talked 
 at dinner, after dinner, at coffee, and after 
 coffee, and at last had recourse to cards, 
 
202 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 for I don't think any of us had any thing 
 left to say. By the bye, "we took coffee in 
 the Marble room, which has not been used 
 for many years, and your friend Coelebs 
 was suddenly taken ill. What his complaint 
 was I dont know, but as I guess, 'twas 
 a little touch of alarm, or dread of non- 
 compliance on the part of the Lady Priscilla. 
 He rallied very indifferently, but the next 
 morningopenedhis attack in form, and seems 
 likely to carry the fort. I had the pleasure 
 of meeting him a few mornings since at the 
 Elms, and Lord Stantley afterwards walked 
 with him to Hampton, and introduced, him 
 to my mother and sisters. Mr. Lamb and 
 his Lordship no longer dispute about 
 system of education, but each follows his 
 own, and regrets the blindness of his friend 
 to what he thinks the most eligible. I 
 know you will" join with me, and his Lord- 
 ship has a strong recruit in Coelebs. 
 
 Lady Hebe, who has acquired a great 
 share of ability in several elegant arts, 
 (a proof of her exquisite taste and great 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 203 
 
 application, when the difficulties which have 
 been thrown in her way, are recollected) 
 was at the Elms, and engaged in finishing 
 a beautiful view taken from Mr. Lamb's 
 ground, when she saw her father riding up 
 the avenue. Knowing his prejudices, she 
 placed her performance as a subject for 
 Emily to copy, who immediately began a 
 hasty outline. The drawing they admired 
 as a great effort of art, and an exquisite 
 representation of nature, yet how astonishing 
 is it that they should object to so delightful 
 an accomplishment, which can renew the 
 remembrance of the beautiful scenes we 
 visit, and relieve the ennui of many a 
 solitary moment. I was told Miss Bolton 
 arrived at the Elms yesterday. She is a 
 very old and intimate acquaintance of Mr. 
 Lamb's, and a Lady I wished to see, as 
 I had heard much in her praise. " She has 
 not," said he, "the primness of the old maid, 
 nor the testiness of the old batchelor ; she 
 has not the care about her of a married 
 woman, nor the melancholy of the widow ; 
 
204 C CELEBS SUITED. 
 
 she is never troubled with spleen, or the 
 vapours, never complains of blue devils, or 
 indeed of any thing else. I once said 
 to her," continued Mr. Lamb, " My dear 
 Miss Bolton, I doubted how I ought to 
 address you; when I last wrote, I thought 
 I should have applied a more dignified 
 appellation." She replied, " You mean 
 that I should take the title of a married 
 woman, and think that Miss is too juvenile 
 a designation for a woman of thirty-nine ; 
 now the truth is, that I hold out no false 
 colours ; impose upon no one by a false 
 appellation, but carry the title properly 
 belonging to an unmarried woman. I feel 
 no degradation, no shame, at remaining 
 single, you know that I do not repine at it. 
 Had I, when a girl, met an offer that would 
 have given me a fair chance of happiness, I 
 certainly should have accepted it, but when 
 I reached thirty-five, I determined never to 
 change my situation, and strove to acquire a 
 habit of mind that should equally protect 
 me from the sneers of the young, and the 
 pity of the aged," 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 £05 
 
 I admire the strength of her mind. 
 
 Her 
 
 sense and fortitude have raised the character 
 of an old maid, from a vulgar odium, to the 
 rank it deserves, and it certainly should 
 stand higher than that of an old batchelor, 
 who ought, unless it is known that he has 
 offered to share his fortune with some de- 
 serving woman, to be considered as a fair 
 butt. She has seen the errors of others, and 
 has profited by them. How different to her 
 old friend, Miss Sharke. She is well known 
 to have refused two very deserving men, 
 because they had not titles, and would now 
 gladly accept any one who could boast a 
 profession. Still however, she will not quite 
 despair, but cherishes tlie hope of catching^ 
 a peer or baronet, or at least a knight, though 
 at the same she would not object to lower 
 her pretensions according to circumstances, 
 and take up with a less dignified offer. Her 
 beauty will not do the first, nor is her fortune 
 a sufficient bait for the other. So that I fear 
 she must assume another part, and rail at 
 fickle fortune in good terms. 
 
206 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 The two Miss Latons still see with longing 
 eyes every new presentation in the fashionable 
 world. At the gay concert, or the splendid 
 rout, they are the foremost in the rank 
 of elegance and beauty. When we follow 
 them home, and see them restore to their 
 dressing boxes their borrowed charms, and 
 strip themselves of their paint and perfumes, 
 how must we pity them ! When we know 
 that they deny themselves their dinner, lest 
 they should look coarse at the evening party, 
 yet at night drink bottled ale enough 10 
 satisfy a porter, to preserye their plumpness; 
 how must we pity them ! 
 
 At this moment Miss Bolton entered, and 
 Mr. Lamb introduced me to her. Her dress 
 and long habit of acting for herself, and her 
 extreme independence of mind, have given 
 her rather a tincture of masculine appearance, 
 but I was much pleased with her. "Miss 
 Bolton," said Mr. Lamb, "we have been 
 entertaining ourselves with the characters of 
 your friends, the Miss Latons and Miss 
 Sharke." 
 
 '^ 
 
C CELEBS SITITZD. 
 
 " Charitably I hope/ returned she, fl for 
 I could retaliate v.ith great severity. You 
 surely cannot think Colonel Thompson a 
 more engaging or amiable character than 
 either of the ladies you have mentioned; 
 though certainly not less than fifty, he gives 
 himself all the airs of eighteen, and kindly 
 hopes that he is not the death of every young 
 giri he talks to. Though the jest of all his 
 acquaintance, he vainly thinks that his wit, 
 not his folly, provokes the smile : and while 
 lie hides his diminished legs under an 
 immense pair of Hessian boots, flatters 
 himself that his wrinkles are overlooked. 
 Vv 'hat think you of his constant companion, 
 Charles Winter, who retails his dry jokes on 
 the slavery of matrimony, yet dares not 
 contradict his kept mistress ; and though he 
 has the strongest proof of her infidelity, fears 
 even to hint a suspicion. But the catalogue 
 of miserable old batchelors is inexhaustible. 
 The two Malsoms, Lord Courtley, and some 
 others whom I could mention, feel the state 
 of celibacy not quite so much of a heaven 
 
208 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 as some of these lords of the creation would 
 make us believe. As to your young men 
 of fashion, I know not what you'll say to 
 them. * Cawke, a dashing member of the 
 whip club, paid a Brentford coachman five 
 guineas to teach him to spit, in a coachman- 
 like "style. They wear wigs made by Vickery, 
 which have a lock of hair falling down on 
 the near side, and without this distinguishing 
 mark, no one is allowed to mount the 
 driving seat." 
 
 She is very chatty, and thinks with ori- 
 ginality, and expresses herself easily. She 
 draws and plays tolerably well, and if she 
 has not very much excelled in any thing, it 
 it has been from encouraging the idea that 
 every thing was attainable, and therefore she 
 attempted every thing. Thus she knows a 
 little of all arts and all sciences; and is never 
 at a loss either to amuse herself or others, 
 
 I have been obliged to defer my en- 
 tertainment till Wednesday, on account 
 of the absence of Colonel Embry. The 
 weather promises to be favorable, but our 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 209 
 
 variable climate is ofttimes a great trial to 
 our patience. 
 
 I hope I shall see you on Friday, and 
 with compliments to Sir George Rover, 
 
 Believe me, &c. 
 
 William Paston. 
 
210 C.ffitfcBS SCITXP.. 
 
 SirG. Rover, Bart, to Charles Rastgck, 
 Esq. 
 
 Beaufidd Lodge. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 You will no doubt receive from 
 Colonel Urington, an account of our success 
 to obtaining our wishes from Parliament, and 
 I feel happy that some restrictions which 
 appear in the bill were proposed by Lord 
 Kilcarty, as our well known hostility will 
 exculpate me from having advised such a 
 measure, though nothing could be more 
 proper than such a clause, and indeed it 
 provides against the only objection that 
 could have been started. 
 
 The Marquis set me down here on Friday, 
 and went on to Sir "William Paston's. — As I 
 ventured to guess, Ccelebs is so entirely 
 occupied with the charms and merits of 
 Lady Priscilla ; and Lady Beaufield is so 
 busy in forwarding arrangements, and 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 211 
 
 explaining with Lady Stantley upon every 
 little lover's hesitation that occurs, that Sir 
 John and I are left to amuse ourselves as 
 we like. He lives in a very handsome style. 
 His house is spacious, and his appointments 
 complete. The greatest regularity prevails. 
 At eight prayers are read in the eating-room, 
 to which every servant, male and female is 
 summoned ; breakfast is over by ten, when 
 Sir John generally retires (if without 
 company) to his study, and Lady Beaufield 
 with her daughter to her sitting-room, where 
 the many studies are gone through. At 
 two the carriage is ordered, and the ladies 
 pay morning visits in the neighbourhood, and 
 inspect the situation, and supply the wants of 
 the poor of their vicinity. Sir John rides 
 over his farm, generally in company with 
 Lord Stantley. Dinner is served at five 
 o'clock with the greatest exactness, at w T hich 
 there is generally a good deal of dissertation 
 on economical housekeeping, and cards and 
 books supply the evening amusement. Lady 
 Beaufield plays chess, with some pretensions 
 p 2 
 
212 CCELEBS SUITED 
 
 to skill, and I have had some little difficulty 
 to establish my superiority. — At ten, the 
 servants are again summoned, and evening 
 service is performed, the conclusion of which 
 is the signal for retiring. This routine 
 never admits of any other variation than 
 that of receiving company, or of going out 
 to dinners. That such a system as this 
 should ever have obtained among sensible 
 people who have the means of procuring 
 every superior intellectual enjoyment; who 
 have leisure to attend to, and fortune to 
 furnish a large sphere of pleasure, is what I 
 cannot understand. I must own that I never 
 felt so strong an inclination to take my nap 
 after dinner, or felt so yawning by ten 
 o'clock at night, as I do here. Lady Beaufield 
 with her carpet work, and Miss Beaufield 
 with her knitting and sewing, tire me to death. 
 However, I have taken this opportunity to 
 refresh my memory with Dante's Inferno, 
 and shall probably not regret my want of 
 other entertainments. 
 
 Our friend seems almost to have changed 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 213 
 
 his nature, having received the approbation 
 of Lord and Lady Stantley, and obtained a 
 declaration from Lady Priscilla, that he is 
 not disagreeable to her, as warm an acknow- 
 ledgment as a man can expect before 
 marriage, he hastens the preparations with 
 an activity almost incredible to those who 
 know his general mode of maturely consi- 
 dering every step. He is already in treaty 
 for the purchase of an estate in tiie neigh- 
 bourhood, and intends to occupy himself 
 in following up the plans of his father-in-law. 
 Thus her Ladyship will only have to add 
 the care of a few children, to her present 
 ' employs; and, however she may support the 
 character that Ccelebs admires as a model for 
 the sex, will soon shrink from the world, and 
 feel the task of supporting any outward 
 appearances a burthen, which he will evade 
 by every means. The motives from whence 
 all this springs is so good, that one very 
 much regrets seeing it so perverted, but the 
 medium is difficult to hit. The follies and 
 . distresses which have overwhelmed many 
 
214 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 females, who have ventured to put themselves 
 forward, and exhibit themselves as leaders 
 of the ton, has unfortunately transferred 
 the odium of their fall, to the merits 
 they possessed : but nothing can be so 
 injurious or so bad as this mode of 
 reasoning, and the fact is directly the 
 reverse. Those who really possess the ele- 
 gance of life have a resource which super- 
 sedes the necessity of continually forcing 
 themselves into company, and upon the town. 
 They can retire to the calm and varied 
 amusement of reading, drawing, or of music; 
 and please themselves with the idea that when 
 they meet their husbands or their brothers, 
 they will be able to exhibit their attention to 
 an improvement in these gratifying arts. 
 
 This system well understood, can never 
 put aside other duties, nor will it with 
 people of just thinking. 
 
 I have been drawn it) to a long train of 
 moralizing, butTeally it is 'catching ; however 
 here they act up to their doctrine, what is 
 not the case with all moralizers. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 £15 
 
 I leave this place for Sir Williams's on 
 Friday, a change I think I shall not regret ; 
 though nothing can exceed the kind attention 
 and hospitality of this worthy family, 
 vet I feel a want of the amusements I have 
 been always accustomed to, and almost 
 languish for my violincello. 
 
 If nothing very particular occurs, I shall 
 leave Hampton for Oxford, and shall from 
 thence return immediately to Ireland. 
 
 With best remembrances to Mr. Rastock, 
 believe me, 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 Geo. Rover, 
 
216 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 This morning the Marquis and Sir 
 William Paston called upon me to ac- 
 company them to Mr. Lamb's. Coelebs and 
 Sir John Beau field were gone with Lord 
 Stantley to look at the estate which has been 
 offered for sale; and which, I think, Coelebs 
 will purchase. It adjoins a part of his Lord- 
 ship's, and appears from the description 
 to be very desirable. I anticipated much 
 pleasure from this visit, and was not disap- 
 pointed in the expectation I had entertained. 
 Mr. Lamb unites the elegance of the courtier 
 wjth the simplicity of the country gentleman, 
 and carries with him great weight in all 
 public business. He speaks well, and 
 strictly to the purpose; and has more than 
 once had the power of stopping popular and 
 unjust clamour, by the good sense and firm- 
 ness of his conduct. He has lost his excellent 
 
CCELEBS SUITErr. 227 
 
 mfe about three years, and his grief for 
 this sad visitation has subsided into a settled 
 melancholy, which nothing disturbs but the 
 kind remarks and endearing attentions 
 of his family. This consists of two daughters, 
 the. eldest, twenty-one years of age ; the 
 younger, nineteen; and Miss St. Louis, a 
 young lady who was their governess; but 
 who remains with them as a sister. He was; 
 employed in his study, when Sir William 
 introduced me to him, in making out a 
 statement of some calculations, to form the 
 basis of a petition to parliament respecting 
 the poor laws. 
 
 " There is no system that has met the 
 evil of the increasing poor rates," said the 
 Marquis, "and the great accumulation of 
 reports and authorities makes it difficult to 
 comprehend, what in many instances is the 
 meaning of the legislature on this subject." 
 
 "The system," said Mr. Lamb, "of 
 granting parochial relief, excepting in very 
 particular cases, such as a man's being 
 drawn for the militia, or some other unex- 
 
21S CCELEES SUITED. 
 
 pected cause, is very bad; and it has ail 
 originated in a bad principle. The pay of 
 the labourer is so small in almost every 
 county in England, that he cannot live 
 without parochial assistance, and here is 
 the evil to which a remedy must be applied. 
 In large towns, and in manufacturing dis- 
 tricts, combinations have been formed by 
 the men, who have exacted from their 
 masters such wages as the pressure and 
 necessities of the times have demanded ; let 
 us not drive these people to the same 
 course." " Can it be right?" said the Mar- 
 quis, " that the laws of the country should 
 admit that the labouring man, the bold and 
 hardy peasant, his country's pride, should 
 not be able to support more than two 
 children by the wages of his hands. Yet 
 such a principle is admitted, by ordering 
 assistance to such men; and though that 
 assistance is so niggardly as to be scarcely 
 worth receiving, yet the man who, had he 
 iived in earlier days, would have shrunk 
 with horror from the idea of being charge- 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 21§ 
 
 able to the parish, is now glad to receive even 
 this paltry pittance; for this, barters his 
 freedom, and submits to the supercilious 
 taunts of men, richer indeed, but in no 
 degree better than himself. This is the 
 situation in which the laws of his country 
 views the greater part of the population of 
 these kingdoms.'' " And the truth of this/' 
 returned Mr. Lamb, " was so strongly 
 impressed upom me, and the bad policy 
 of the system so evident, both, as degrading 
 the receiver, and impoverishing the donor, as 
 loosening the bond of society, and making men 
 regard each other always unfavorably, that 
 on coming to the estate, which I have now r 
 lived upon for five and thirty years, I 
 determined to adopt a* different course, and 
 to influence all within my power to abandon 
 a system so replete with evil. 
 
 *I saw that even a single man could scarcely 
 support himself on his wages, having great 
 advantages in obtaining occasional assistance 
 by extra work; that in reckoning his means 
 he always counted on something beyond his 
 
2£0 CCEXEES SUITED. - 
 
 means for procuring many of the necessaries; 
 and that if he married, which indeed he 
 seldom thought of, unless the parish forced 
 him to it, to atone for a moment of un- 
 guarded passion, he calculated on the 
 parish.purse as the means of supporting his 
 offspring." " How sadly degrading," said Sir 
 William, " to the human character ! How 
 pregnant with mischief are such regulations !" 
 '"Thus," continued Mr. Lamb, " had 
 marriage ceased to become an honourable 
 tie, and the pride of an English peasant was 
 extinguished. 
 
 "I immediately greatly increased the wages 
 of every labourer on my estate, and by 
 the influence I had acquired, and the 
 calculations I produced of the ultimate 
 advantage, I induced all the landholders 
 of the parish to adopt the same course; in 
 a short time all claim on the parish for 
 relief ceased ; the motive for thieving, or 
 for begging, was removed : man looked at 
 man with a consciousness of an honest and 
 upright feeling towards each other : — the 
 
CCELEBS SUTTED. 
 
 221 
 
 young married from choice, and the 
 natural consequence was a healthy and 
 happy peasantry. No one can rejoice 
 more than I do, in hearing of the generous 
 and praiseworthy interference of the rich 
 and enlightened, descending from their rank 
 and visiting the cottages of the poor z.\v\ 
 needy. It is a kind and good feeling, but I 
 could wish to see the necessity of such inter- 
 ference removed. Under the present system 
 of things, it must be necessary, for if the 
 labourer can scarcely support himself when 
 in health by the wages of his employ, how 
 can he put by any thing for the day of 
 sickness? If any unforeseen calamity over- 
 take him, he cannot assist himself either 
 by having recourse to the savings of his 
 healthier days, or by forestalling a small 
 part of his future wages."' 
 
 Sir William now left us to seek the 
 ladies. " My dear Lord V said Mr. Lamb. 
 " the satisfaction I inwardly feel, and my 
 gratitude to God for giving me such a son- 
 in-law as your dear friend, is inexpressible. 
 
£22 CGELEBS SUITED. 
 
 That my daughter should have been so 
 fortunate as to attach to herself so good 
 a christian, so worthy a man, and so perfect 
 a gentleman, has raised her, even, in 
 my eyes — Oh ! that her excellent mother 
 were living to witness the completion 
 of this wish always so near her heart!'' 
 The Marquis joined in the praise of his 
 friend, and congratulated Mr. Lamb 
 in the chance for happiness which his 
 daughter must have with such a character. 
 " Sir William's past conduct," said he, " must 
 be. the pledge of Lis future life; and the 
 education Miss Lamb has received must 
 make his home the mansion of peace, and 
 the centre of bliss." A servant came in to 
 say, that a person wished to speak to Mr. 
 Lamb for a moment. " Pray excuse me," 
 said he, "and I will then have the pleasure 
 of introducing Sir George to my family." In 
 his absence the Marquis gave me the following 
 account of the system they had pursued, 
 and of which the result was so successful. 
 "They adopted," said he, "no wild theories, 
 
CCELEiiS SUITED. il'CS 
 
 no fanciful scheme of making their children 
 prodigies of perfection. Their object was 
 to teacii them all they were capable of 
 learning, but to force upon them no ac- 
 complishments which their genius, upon 
 fair exertion, did not give a prospect of 
 acquiring. As children, their whole care 
 was to impress them with a love of goodness, 
 with a respect for their elders, and with 
 a just knowledge of themselves; to inculcate 
 a sound principle of religion, of honor, and 
 of integrity. Until Emily was ten years old, 
 Mrs. Lamb took this duty upon herself. 
 They then enquired among their friends for 
 a governess, requiring that she should be 
 young, well-tempered, elegant, and accom- 
 plished. They would have given the 
 preference to an Englishwoman, but the 
 unfortunate situation of France threw in 
 their way a Miss St. Louis, the daughter 
 of a gentleman, who had fallen a victim in 
 that sanguinary struggle, and whom thev 
 decided upon taking. She fled to England 
 with the Countess Villette, and. thev were 
 
224 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 delighted to receive her. She was just 
 twenty-two years of age, handsome and 
 polished in her manners, and every way 
 proper to give an example of excellent 
 conduct, and refined behaviour. She spoke 
 Italian with the same fluency as her native 
 tongue, drew with some skill, and excelled 
 in her performance on the harp. On the 
 first day of her arrival, Mr. Lamb led her 
 to the upper end of the dinner table, and 
 placing her next to Mrs. Lamb, begged her 
 to consider that as her constant situation. 
 This was the result of a determination to 
 impress upon their daughters the respect 
 which they themselves paid to the talents 
 and virtues of Miss St. Louis; a confidence 
 and a distinction she justly merited. They 
 now began the study of the French language, 
 of music and drawing ; while their m 
 opened and explained to them the principles 
 of their religion, and the duties of their sex. 
 The kind attentions and instructions of their 
 governess v ere seconded by their pupil's 
 diligence and quickness of comprehension. 
 
C<XLE"BS SUITED. .225 
 
 When Emily reached her eighteenth 
 year they had the pleasure of seeing her 
 elegant and graceful in her person; 
 thoroughly instructed in the principles 
 of her religion ; and practising, with con- 
 scientious exactness, its excellent precepts; 
 well read in ancient and modern history, 
 writing and speaking with ease and elegance 
 both French and Italian; and exhibiting 
 great taste and skill in music and drawing. 
 
 "In the arrangements of the house she 
 took an active part; every order for which, 
 by a regulation adopted by her mother, 
 and never swerved from, ■ was dispatched 
 before the breakfast hour. Her younger 
 sister followed her in all her acquirements, 
 with the difference only of her age. 
 
 "Thev now thought it right that thev should 
 visit London ; the great seat of intellectual 
 amusement, the nurse oi the arts -and 
 sciences, and the school of life. They 
 engaged the assistance of the best masters 
 of music, drawing, and dancing;- the 
 sciences they were equal- to ;at- home. -Every 
 Q. 
 
-20 CCELKB3 iVITl.i), 
 
 thing worth}- of notice w«a visi^eci, and 
 the} 7 profited much by their opportunities' 
 of comparing their own deficiency with the 
 ability of others, and their own happiness 
 with the ennui of those who had neglected 
 to store their minds with reading, and to 
 acquire the means of employing their time 
 upon their- own stock of knowledge and 
 amusement*. At this time they had the 
 misfortune of losing their excellent mother; 
 a woman of a most refined mind, a strong 
 sense, possessing all the virtues, and all the 
 graces which -adorn the sex. Mr. Lamb 
 was deeply affected at her loss/* said the 
 Marquis. " and will never, I fear, recover 
 the cheerfulness he formerly enjoyed. 
 
 " The system which this excellent woman 
 iiad laid down, he continued to adopt with the 
 most religious attention. Miss St. Louis's 
 extreme good conduct was a source of the 
 greatest comfort to him, and relieved much 
 of his anxiety about his daughters. In the 
 autumn they visited Brighton, and made a 
 tour -of that coast; and have each year 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 22/ 
 
 continued the plan of being in London for 
 a month in the spring, and of travelling 
 to see the beauties of England in the 
 autumn. 
 
 "They have gratified, by their improvement, 
 his most sanguine wishes. They have 
 rewarded all the anxiety of the parent, and 
 he feels that they have the means of 
 acquitting themselves, if fortune should 
 elevate their rank in life; or of passing their 
 days without repining, let their lot be what 
 it may!"' 
 
 You may be sure I was not a little anxious, 
 after all that I had heard, to see these 
 young ladies ; and Mr. Lamb returning we 
 followed him to the library. 
 
 Here we found the Miss Lambs, Miss St 
 Louis, the Countess Viilette, and Sir 
 William Paston. The elder Miss Lamb 
 was at her drawing; Sir William was sitting 
 by her, turning over Scott's Lay of the Last 
 Minstrel, and applying, no doubt, some 
 of its beautiful passages to express more 
 forcibly his own feelings. The younger Mias 
 Ct 9. 
 
228 C CELEBS SUITES. 
 
 Lamb was at her harp, with Miss St. Louis, 
 and the Countess was listening to her little 
 son's reading. It was an elegant and 
 delightful scene. Our entrance put an end 
 to all these pursuits, and I was particularly 
 pleased again to meet my interesting French 
 friend ; she enquired after the Beaufields, 
 and facetiously asked after the progress of 
 the stocking, and the other useful employs 
 in which the family were engaged; which as 
 they had but little interested me, I could give 
 but a poor account of. After a good deal of. 
 pleasant conversation, Mr. Lamb requested 
 Miss St. Louis to favor us with a song she had 
 lately received from London, and to accom- 
 pany herself on the harp; she however begged 
 to be allowed to decline it, and to request 
 Miss Harriot to take her place ; without 
 the least hesitation she complied, and sung 
 a few lines from the Last Lay, in a most 
 finished style. — I was charmed with her 
 performance, and with the manner in which 
 Miss St. Louis seized the opportunity of 
 exhibiting the abilities and .taste of her 
 
£<£LEBS SAUTED- 2S& 
 
 amiable pupil. Mr. Lamb was equally 
 delighted, and said, that he should have 
 thought it perfect if he had never heard 
 Miss St. Louis. How excellent is it to see 
 people thus kind and considerate to those, 
 whom Providence has put in their power; 
 persons who possess oftentimes with more 
 talents an equal share of feeling, and a 
 keen sense of those slights, with which the 
 pride and ignorance of riches frequently 
 subject them to. 
 
 But to convince you, were any thing 
 more necessary, of the liberality and 
 delicacy of Mr. Lamb's sentiments, I should 
 inform you, that taking into consideration 
 Miss St. Louis's late affluence, and the 
 weight which must remain upon her mind 
 from her present dependent state, crushing 
 her natural cheerfulness, and making more 
 arduous the duties she had undertaken; 
 after satisfying himself by a year's^xperience 
 of the uprightness of her conduct, and her 
 great merit, he presented her with a hand- 
 some annuity ; thereby, in a great measure 
 
250 CCELEBS SUITEt). 
 
 restoring her to her natural flow of spirits, 
 exchanging her downcast and careful look 
 for the smile of grateful recollection ; and 
 as good results from good, his daughters 
 have had the advantage of receiving their 
 instructions from an obliging and cheerful 
 friend; who has had their improvement at 
 heart, instead of the cold admonitions of 
 a dependant. 
 
 Alter this we walked into the pleasure 
 grounds to see the green-house and aviaries. 
 Miss Lamb had just finished the arrange- 
 ment and catalogue, in which she has shewn 
 great taste and judgment, We then 
 returned to the house, and Sir William took 
 me over it. It is built nearly from the 
 description of Pliny's Villa, called " Lau- 
 rentinutn," and is most elegantly decorated : 
 so much comfort, and so much beauty, I 
 never before saw combined. We then took 
 our leave. — As we were riding home ; Sir 
 William said — " No man has done more 
 good within his influence than Mr. Lamb, 
 yet without pretence or ostentation; he is 
 
QCELKBS 6U1TED, 231 
 
 kind and attentive to the comforts of 
 his peasantry ; poor, there are none near 
 him. He encourages applications for the 
 repair of the cottages on his estate, and 
 personally investigates the necessity of the 
 claim; but at other times, very seldom 
 enters them. On a Sunday, if a y part 
 of a family is absent from church, or 
 appears less happy, or worse clothed than 
 he has before remarked them, he immedi- 
 ately enquires of themselves the cau?e, and 
 applies the relief they want. After the 
 service of the day, he remains for iome 
 time in the church yard, to give any one 
 an opportunity of asking any favour or 
 advice they may require; but in granting 
 their requests he always endeavours to 
 impress them with the advantage and 
 comforts of helping themselves; and with 
 the consequence Which independence gives 
 them. I can bear witness, " continued Sir 
 William, " tp the good result of this course 
 of conduct ; and the assistance and co- 
 operation of my excellent guardian, Col, 
 
232 CCEX&BS SULTED. 
 
 Embry, has extended the good effects to the 
 next parish. 
 
 " In adopting this course he has relieved 
 both himself and his neighbours from much 
 trouble; he receives no applications for petty 
 assistance ; his time is not occupied in 
 distributing petty charity, or his kitchen 
 filled with the claims of the hungry and 
 oppressed. Herein he will often say, I am 
 the champion of a system, but I am not 
 a theroist only ; the experience of twenty- 
 five years, since which time it has been 
 in full practice, has convinced me of 
 its efficacy, and I feel confident that the 
 common people of this and the neighbour- 
 ing villages have more of the comforts, 
 more of the character of English peasants, 
 more of the dignity of man, than is generally 
 met with !" 
 
 Shortly after this we arrived at Beaufield 
 Lodge ; and I parted with my good 
 friends, highly delighted with my day's 
 excursion. 
 
 Sir John and Ccelebs not being yet 
 
C'CE'tEBS SiriTED. p t £33 
 
 returned, I' take the opportunity of theif 
 absence to commit to paper this account 
 of so interesting a family. 
 
 Make my kindest remembranecs to your 
 good Lady, 
 
 And believe me, &c 8 
 
 Geo. Rover, 
 
234 CALEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastocx, 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 Sir William Paston sent his 
 carriage for me on Friday, according to 
 appointment, and I left Eeaufield Lodge, 
 strongly impressed with the kindness of its 
 worthy inhabitants. Every arrangement for 
 the fete is completed, and it is fixed for 
 Wednesday next. Sir William enters his 
 twenty-fifth year on Sunday, and the neces- 
 sary absence of Colonel Ertibry, has induced 
 him to postpone the celebration of it till 
 Wednesday, that he may have the pleasure 
 of his company. We dined on Saturday at 
 Mr. Lamb's. There was no addition to the 
 party I mentioned, having met there last 
 week, except a Miss Bolton and Dr. 
 Templeton, the rector of the parish. The 
 dinner was well dressed, and well served, 
 and did credit to the taste of Miss Lamb. 
 Her father has said, that'in the arrangement 
 
CALEBS SUITED. 
 
 B3S 
 
 of his household, he never felt the loss of his 
 dear laclv. The regularity and economy 
 which she had adopted, her daughter never 
 swerved from, nor was the sum he allowed 
 for housekeeping ever exceeded. The 
 conversation was general and pleasant, and 
 I was happy to see the chearful ease of 
 Mi^s St. Louis. The ladies enlivened our 
 party by their animation and good sense; 
 and they left us to a freer, but not less 
 rational intercourse. To me, there is nothing 
 more delightful, than the social mingling 
 of mind, and interchange of opinion, which 
 occurs when a company of sensible men, 
 uninfluenced by party or prejudice, and 
 willing both to inform and be informed, find 
 themselves fairly met ; enlivened by good 
 wine, and actuated by good-will towards 
 each other. This I may say to you, whd 
 know that I never indulge in what are 
 termed the pleasures of the bottle. As 
 there was much talk, I shall give you 
 some parts of it, as well as my memory 
 will serve. 
 
236 COE LEBS SU IT E D, 
 
 Marquis of Heron. — The excellent and 
 Correct principles which are now endea- 
 voured to be inculcated by all writers on 
 jbTanaT education, must, we should hope, 
 effect a change in the prevailing rage for 
 dissipation, and consequent deviation from 
 propriety. <- . 
 
 Mr. Lamb.— There is much good to be 
 derived from these publications. They make 
 virtue pleasing, and paint her in glowing 
 colours; they teach, that happiness consists 
 in a life of innocence, and in a regard for 
 religion, and thus far they are right, but 
 they have lately objected to accomplishments 
 and works of art, here thev are wronc;; it 
 is by a constant employ in works of mental 
 exertion alone, that the young mind can be 
 kept free from vice ; and as these addresses 
 are for the most part intended for women 
 of a certain rank in life, they lose their 
 effect by not encouraging these elegant 
 employments. 
 
 Doctor Templeton. — But it does not 
 appear to me that accomplishments are pro- 
 
EE0S StllbBl 
 
 W _ .. 
 
 scribed in the system of education; whicn 
 many deserving people are endeavouring 
 to introduce; they only insist that they 
 should be considered as subservient- to 
 more useful employ, and more necessary 
 knowledge. 
 
 Mr. Lamb. — Excuse me, Doctor Tem- 
 pleton, you have now Laid, down the esact 
 medium, the true line of propriety ; but ia 
 some late publications which have been 
 read with. much avidity, and praised I think 
 rather too highly, we have had heroines, .the 
 daughters of men of fortune, and of a 
 respectable rank in life, who ..have, not- 
 possessed, and have been extolled for not 
 possessing, a single accomplishment; and 
 what is worse, we have had no character 
 introduced that has acquired those charms,, 
 but has been held up to ridicule, for some 
 other parts of their characters. 
 
 Marquis of Heron. — Such works must 
 defeat their own ends, 
 
 Mr, Lamb.— They would lower rather 
 than elevate the female character. — The 
 
238 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 exclusion of the study of the polite arts 
 would make them either disputatious blue 
 stocking ladies, rigid methodists, or reduce 
 them to narrow minded housekeepers, and 
 however a single character may be decked 
 out and held up for imitation, let us re- 
 member how very few will attain the 
 praised excellence of the original, and the 
 kind of companions those females who fall 
 short of it, must make to men of liberal 
 education. 
 
 Sir William Paston. — The late restriction 
 which the lords have put upon the future 
 marriage of the parties convicted of 
 criminal conversation will not I think have 
 a good effect. 
 
 Sir George Rover. — The dreadful in- 
 stances we have lately witnessed of the 
 violation of the marriage tie ; the impudence 
 with which the parties guilty of those 
 infamous transactions have defended them- 
 selves ; and the confidence with which 
 they have appeared in public and met the 
 world, should receive some serious check. 
 
i:CL£3S. S CITES. S$g 
 
 Marquis of Heron. — It is a very difficult 
 case to legislate for. The avarice or pride 
 of the parents may have matched their 
 offspring to men but -little suited to them, 
 and their, husbands may have been worthless 
 and unkind. Tis cruel to shut the gates 
 of mercy. If we deny their union with 
 those who have seduced them, who else 
 will marry them, and it still remains 
 with the world to deny or accept their 
 atonement. 
 
 Mr. Lamb. — The laws are certainly 
 defective on this point, and do not meet the 
 evil ; I can see no punishment so proper 
 for the offence as solitary imprisonment, or 
 sending both culprits to Botany Bay. The 
 idea of giving damages, though sanctioned 
 by custom, is preposterous. No man of 
 honor can accept them, nor ought a villain 
 to be allowed to receive them. Impri- 
 sonment would be a punishment immediate 
 in its effects, and by dividing the parties, 
 might be the means of restoring them to a 
 just, sense of the iniquity of their conduct 
 
240 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 No sum however great, can restore to any 
 man the comfort he has lost by his wife's 
 misconduct ; and to a rich man the fine for 
 their transgressing the laws of God and of 
 his country, is often a subject of jest 
 and merriment, and fixes upon him the 
 unhappy female who has thus sacrificed 
 herself. 
 
 Doctor Templeton. — I agree with the 
 Marquis, that it is not good to hinder the 
 future marriage of the culprits ; I would 
 rather enforce it ; I would compel it, after 
 inflicting whatever punishment might have 
 been affixed to the crime in both offenders, 
 let their rank be what it may. 
 
 Sir William Paston. — Doctor Johnson 
 thought that the dread of punishment, of 
 such punishment as would be really felt, 
 would nearly prevent all crime. 
 
 Air. Lamb. — I am very much inclined to 
 agree with him. 
 
 Doctor Templeton. — The early habits of 
 life of most of our young men of fortune are 
 unfortunately very loose ; but I believe that 
 
CCELEBS SX T ITED. 241 
 
 even in the army there is much less open 
 vice than formerly ; that the initiation of a 
 young man into this too frequently school 
 of licentiousness, is not now so gross as 
 •formerly. 
 
 ; Sir William Paston. — I hear with pleasure 
 that it is not ; and the character of the 
 armv must rise with this desirable chancre. 
 
 The conversation now wandered to 
 other subjects, and the Marquis mentioned 
 his father's plan of Parliamentary Reform, 
 which I believe I have before detailed to 
 you. 
 
 Doctor Templeton. — Property has been 
 considered the true basis of representation. 
 The great stake which the rich and power- 
 ful have to protect, and the large share 
 which they must necessarily pay towards the 
 exigencies of the state, seems to give them a 
 right to great influence in the choice of the 
 national council. 
 
 Mr. Lamb. — But this is false reasoning 
 Every man has his all to protect. Very few 
 
242 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 persons in the event of the loss of our 
 independence, would be so well situated as 
 they are at present; and our independence 
 may be equally threatened by the too great 
 influence of the crown, or by a combination 
 of the aristocracy, as by the anarchy of the 
 people, or the arms of foreign enemies. — 
 Property is not therefore, the true basis of 
 representation, but opinion, the uninfluenced 
 opinion of men who are capable of thinking, 
 a faculty which certainly is not confined to 
 rank or fortune. 
 
 Marquis of Heron. — Property is certainly 
 not the criterion of virtue, or talent. Im- 
 mense possessions oft engender the ambition 
 of immense power, and frequently enforce 
 the right to break through the laws of the 
 country, in the most flagrant manner. — 
 Power will not brook opposition, and will 
 use its influence to effect its purpose, often- 
 times very unjustly. Thus the influence of 
 powerful men has been exerted to force the 
 government to grant favors with the most 
 glaring impropriety; and the same cause 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 243 
 
 has screened from public justice, many 
 a public defaulter. The Marquis men- 
 tioned the increase of religious sects in 
 England. 
 
 Mr. Lamb. — Pray Sir George, does me- 
 thodism increase in Ireland ? 
 
 Sir George Rover. — In the towns I think 
 it does ; among the peasants, who are chiefly 
 catholics, it of course makes but little 
 progress. 
 
 Mr. Lamb. — I have an uncharitable 
 aversion to methodists. I would rather 
 trust my life and property to the mercy of 
 an athiest, than a methodist. The former sub- 
 stitutes, for a stronger impulse and motive, 
 honor, "the sacred tie of kings," a principle 
 of great strength, and capable of urging 
 men to the performance of great actions, 
 and to the supporting severe privations ; 
 but the saving faith of the methodist covers 
 a multitude of sins, and he shrinks not 
 from the commission of great enormities, in 
 the assurance of the efficacv of the great 
 expiation. 
 
 r2 
 
244 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir George Rover. — Are their numbers 
 increasing here as in other parts of England, 
 
 Mr. Lamb. — Thanks to DoctorTempleton, 
 they are not. 
 
 Doctor Templeton.— To your endeavours, 
 Mr. Lamb, is due the happy change. 
 
 We were now summoned to coffee. We 
 found the ladies in the music-room. Miss 
 Lamb had made a selection for the evening. — 
 Miss St. Louis enquired if I had read Dr. 
 Rett's late work ; I had not met with it, and 
 she strongly recommended it to me. In 
 return, I mentioned your favourite author, 
 and the conversation took a literary and 
 religious turn. Mr. Lamb encouraged it, 
 and told me afterwards that his design in it 
 was to prove to me, that though his daughters 
 were accomplished in all the elegancies of 
 polished society, they were not ignorant of 
 those things in which alone is true happiness, 
 and from which spring eternal life. We then 
 had a most delightful treat of music. The 
 Marquis and his friend, Sir William, both 
 excel on the violincello, and the "taste and 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. £4j 
 
 execution of Miss St. Louis and her amiable 
 pupils, are beyond my praise. We spent a 
 most agreeable evening. As we returned 
 home, Sir William recommended to his 
 friend, the younger Miss Lamb; "I have 
 the highest opinion of the merits of Miss 
 Harriot,'' replied the Marquis, " but I do 
 not feel that strong impulse, which I hope 
 will direct my choice of a wife." 
 
 I enquired by what means Mr. Lamb 
 had overcome the demon of methodism in 
 his village. 
 
 He opposed to it, said Sir William, all 
 his influence, and all his ability; and he was 
 aided by the good sense and energy of Dr. 
 Templeton. He watched with the greatest 
 anxiety the least appearance of departure 
 from the Established Church, and brought 
 back the seceder by argument, and the most 
 considerate care ; he seriously studied the 
 best means of rooting out the evil ; and after 
 enforcing the necessity of a regular attend- 
 ance on the sabbath, he for the summer 
 season postponed the time of evening service 
 
246 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 to five o'clock, after which he encouraged 
 the amusement of quoits and athletic sports. 
 By this means he broke in upon the hours 
 of the methodists, and by making the rest 
 of the evening a scene of innocent relax- 
 ation and amusement, he sent the people 
 home with light hearts to a refreshing sleep : 
 he has appropriated the large field ad- 
 joining his mansion to their use, and here 
 he furnished, for the use of the people, every 
 means of enjoyment they required. From 
 his own house is always supplied the refresh- 
 ments they stood in need of, and here they 
 enjoyed themselves surrounded by their wives 
 and families, and defied equally the threat of 
 fanatics and the insinuations of Jacobins. — 
 In the winter, evening service is performed 
 at six o'clock at his own house, for which 
 purpose he has built a small chapel, warm 
 and comfortable. 
 
 By this easy means, he has stopped 
 this hydra in its progress, and secured 
 the happiness of his neighbours. — I must 
 close my letter, as I hear the family 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. £47 
 
 movincf down to breakfast, and I must 
 hasten to pay my congratulations to Sir 
 William. 
 
 With best remembrance to all friends, 
 believe me, &c. &c. 
 
 George Rover. 
 
248 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastogk, 
 
 Esq. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 At length the joyful day, so long 
 and anxiously expected by Sir William, 
 which was to put him in the possession 
 of a vast property, to open to him new 
 scenes of life, and give him, by enlarging 
 his power, a more extensive means of 
 gratifying his noble and generous nature — 
 has arrived. — When large fortunes are thus 
 expended, we perceive the advantage only 
 which results to the community from such 
 causes, and rejoice in the extended means 
 of good which opulence produces. 
 
 " My dear Sir George," said Lady Paston, 
 on meeting him in the breakfast room, 
 " that I have lived to see this day ! 
 to witness the happy completion of that 
 period, which your father's prudence h>:<\ 
 fixed for your majority, gives me the most 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 249 
 
 lively pleasure ! I shall shortly see you 
 happily married, and in the kindness of your 
 dear Lady, your sifters will feel my loss with 
 less seventy. Herein will my prospects 
 and wishes terminate, and I shall leave my 
 dear children with a feeling of regret, but 
 not of anxiety." Sir William returned her 
 embraces and congratulations with great 
 affection, and presented her Ladyship and 
 his sisters with sumptuous presents. The 
 meeting of the ais and his friend was 
 
 noble and interesting; between them there 
 is the affection of brothers, and the polite- 
 ness of less intimate acquaintances; and 
 their friendship is the more firm from 
 being governed and cemented by the most 
 honorable principle, and most virtuous 
 conduct. Each seems to have been directed 
 by the advice of Pythagoras : — 
 
 u Choose out the man to virtue best inclin'd, 
 
 u Him to thy arms receive — him to thy bosom bind !" 
 
 At church, Sir William and his relations 
 and friends received the sacrament; he then 
 
L J50 C CELL'S SL'ITED. 
 
 placed on the altar a rich offering for the 
 poor. After church most of the respectable 
 neighbours called to congratulate him, 
 among whom was Mr. Lamb, Sir J. Beau- 
 field, Lord Stantley, and Ccelebs. His 
 Lordship introduced our friend in so 
 particular a manner as to oblige us to notice 
 the reports of his happy prospects. " I am 
 happy." returned his Lordship, "that Lady 
 Priscilla has obtained the good opinion of 
 Mr. Ccelebs, and that I shall have the felicity 
 of presenting to her a man who justly ap- 
 preciates her good qualities." We had then 
 a round of compliments, and I understand 
 that the match is to be forwarded with all 
 expedition. I should not wonder if the 
 same week was the completion of the happi- 
 ness of Sir William and our friend. 
 
 Eetween the morning and evening service, 
 we walked to see an elegant small villa 
 which has been built in an adjoining pad- 
 dock for Lady Paston, and which Sir 
 William presented to her, neatly and taste- 
 fully furnished, On Monday the Stantleys. 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 251 
 
 the Beaufields, Calebs, and Mr. Lambs 
 family were engaged (o dine here. I was 
 very much struck with the beauty of Ladv 
 Hebe; she has more ease of manner, and 
 more expression than her eider sisicr. I 
 perceived the ?>Iarquis was very much 
 pleased with her, and immediately requested 
 Mr. Lamb to introduce him to her. He 
 seemed very much delighted with her con- 
 versation; and contrived to place himself next 
 to her at the dinner table. The Countess 
 Villette had the same attraction for me. 
 Her melancholy seems rather to increase 
 than diminish, which I must attribute to 
 the contrast she has now before her in 
 the prospect of these approaching marriages, 
 and the revival of the recollection of her 
 irreparable loss. We dined in the great 
 hall; a room of very large dimensions, 
 whose sides and roof were of polished 
 oak, enriched with carving and ornamental 
 pendants, and bearing in compartments, the 
 arms of the family ; and as-isted by the 
 rich antique-cut liveries of the attendants, 
 
£J2 CCELEES SUITED. 
 
 carried us back to former days. Ap 
 excellent band played in the gallery during 
 the repast. After the ladies left us, Sir 
 William pointed out the alterations he 
 proposed making to the house. It is built 
 in the form of a Roman II, and is enriched 
 with a profusion of turrets and minarets, 
 and has an antique and impressive ap- 
 pearance. The exterior he will perserve 
 most scrupulously, and of the interior, the 
 great dining hall, the gallery, and chapel ; 
 the other rooms he intends to modernize 
 completely ; he will shortly unite every 
 comfort of modern improvement without 
 diminishing the respectable and antique 
 character of the mansion. "The music 
 room," said he, " I shall arrange under the 
 direction of Cramer, and shall take some 
 pains to give full effect to this elegant 
 amusement. My father fitted up the 
 present room; and I beleive, with so 
 much judgment as to require but little 
 alteration to adapt it even to the nicety 
 of modern times." In the midst of our 
 
C(ELEBS SUITED. 253 
 
 conversation we heard the enchanting sound 
 of a harp! "I am extremely surprized/' 
 said Sir William; " I thought there was 
 not a musical instrument in the house ; it 
 must surely be from the old music room, 
 and I am charmed once more to here the 
 delightful sounds, which have so longr been 
 banished from Hampton.'' After much 
 trouble in tuning, we heard the following 
 lines sung in the most tasteful and finished 
 manner. 
 
 " To the pangs of remorse, or the silence of grief, 
 " What power can give ease, or what art bring relief? 
 " When the heart is oppress'd, when the spirits sink low, 
 (t What in sorrow and sadness its aid can bestow ? 
 
 " In the high spring of life, when all pleasure around, 
 u Makes the scene of this world with gay transport? 
 
 abound ; 
 " What shall draw forth our feelings from selfish excess, 
 " And teach us the friendless and orphan to bless? 
 
 " Tis Music, this charm o'er our passions exerts ; 
 " 'Tis music this solace can bring to our hearts ; 
 " 'Tis music will teach us this kindness to shew. 
 " And a heav'n to make of this resion below !*' 
 
£54 COELEBS SUITED, 
 
 V/c all exclaimed in ecstasy at the 
 exquisite taste and execution, and could 
 not tell on whom to fix our praises. " Did 
 not I know that my Hebe has had no 
 opportunity of acquiring such ability," said 
 Lord Stantley, " I could persuade myself, 
 it was her voice." "I can assure your 
 Lordship,'' said Mr. Lamb, " that I have 
 often heard Lady Hebe sing, even with 
 more effect ; it certainly was her Ladyship. 
 The song and music are her own composition; 
 she sent it yesterday to my Harriet, and 
 I was delighted with it." " But how did 
 she obtain all this ability," said his Lordship, 
 "with us these trifles have given way to 
 more solid qualifications ; and music has 
 been considered as even less necessary 
 to happiness, than even most other arts." 
 " She has visited much at our house," said 
 Mr. Lamb, "and has practised with Miss 
 St. Louis with great advantage ; I doubt 
 not but she has profited as much by the 
 instructions of her relations at home as 
 bv the kindness of her friends abroad." 
 
CCELEB3 SUITED, 2o5 
 
 ' J Hebe/' said his Lordship, " is a good and 
 clever girl." "And after the specimen 
 we have just had of her Ladyship's taste 
 and feeling," said the Marquis, " your 
 Lordship cannot regret that she has added 
 this delightful accomplishment to her other 
 merits/" 
 
 We were soon after summoned to coffee. 
 On entering the drawing room, Lord 
 Stantley took Lady Hebe by the hand, 
 and enquired of her, if the performance 
 which we had lately been so much charmed 
 with, was hers; to which she modestly 
 assented. — " I hope," replied his Lordship, 
 "that your good sense will direct you not to 
 neglect those necessary employs, and useful 
 knowledge which form the duties, and 
 are so much more suited to the female 
 character." The expostulation brought tears 
 into the charming ghTs eyes, but the praises 
 of the greater part of the company, and 
 particularly of the Marquis, soon restored 
 her to her accustomed cheerfulness. While 
 waiting for coffee, she. had strolled with 
 
256 CGELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Miss St. Louis through those apartment! 
 which had been so long uninhabited, and 
 supposed themselves in u remote part of 
 the house, not having noticed a turn they 
 had made from one of the rooms, which 
 brought them into the old music room, 
 divided from the great hall, by an oak 
 partition only. The sole remaining piece 
 of furniture, was a neglected harp, and 
 her love for music had prompted her 
 to tune it, and to try the song she had just 
 composed. 
 
 "Has your Ladyship heard Madam 
 Skrumpholtz in the Opera of Julienne ?* 
 said Miss St. Louis, addressing herself to 
 Lady Paston. " I have not visited London 
 for some years," replied her Ladyship, "nor 
 would my habits or inclinations allow me 
 to freo^ent any amusements of the kind ; — 
 the use and advantage of music, is most 
 woefully perverted. Those abilities which 
 God has given to man, with which to cele- 
 brate his name, and sing his praises, are ap- 
 plied to decorate and recommend licentious 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 257 
 
 writings, and to give a zest to sensual and 
 irregular pleasures. The world is conta- 
 minated by this rage for music ; even the 
 selection for a Sunday evening concert is 
 not made up without having recourse to the 
 prophane oratorios and fashionable operas ; 
 and as I only draw my information of these 
 matters from the public papers, I am at 
 a loss to guess io what the difference 
 from a regular concert consists:" "The 
 assembling large parties on the evening of 
 the sabbath,'' said ]\Iiss St. Louis, "whether 
 under the specious pretext of hearing 
 sacred music, or the plea of a mere modern 
 conversazione, are equally improper, and 
 are far from being countenanced by well 
 thinking people." " The mischief," said 
 Mr. Lamb, "is not so great, perhaps, 
 to the parties enjoying the entertainment, 
 as to their inferiors, and especially to their 
 immediate attendants, who see no difference 
 marked by their superiors, between the 
 sabbath and the rest of the week, and whose 
 duty forces them to spend the greater part 
 
 s 
 
£58 GCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 of the evening of this festival in a public 
 house, among crouds of their fellows ; made 
 dissolute and abandoned by the obligation 
 which is thus put upon them, of attending 
 the irregularities of their masters." 
 
 " But,"' said the Marquis, " Lady Paston, 
 seems to think that profane music, as she 
 terms operas, and I suppose all concerts 
 not positively sacred, is a perversion 
 of the use and meaning of this charming 
 science. But the abuse of a good thing is no 
 argument against its use, and an art which 
 enables great numbers of clever men to obtain 
 an ample and honest livelihood, in giving 
 innocent amusement to every rank of society, 
 should be protected. I fear her Ladyship 
 will think me an enthusiast, but how can 
 we recollect the instance we have so lately 
 had of its power of charming, and refuse it 
 our warm support..*' Lady Paston smiled 
 at his Lordship's energy, and though far 
 from allowing her conviction, politely gave 
 up the argument. We now fell into parties. 
 Coelebs amused Lady Priscilla with tender 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 259 
 
 tales, while she employed herself with some 
 needle work she had brought. The Mar- 
 quis undertook to explain to Lady Hebe 
 the particular merits of a fine set of prints 
 which Sir William has collected, and seemed 
 equally well pleased to talk as she to listen. 
 Lady Beau field and myself went to chess, 
 and the remainder joined in a game of 
 vingt-et-un. 
 
 On Tuesday, in arranging our morning's 
 ride, Sir William proposed inquiring after 
 the Stantley family, if the Marquis had 
 no particular objection. It would not be 
 far out of the way, as they had intended 
 calling at Mr. Lamb's, and as Lord Stantley 
 had given a pressing invitation to the Mar- 
 quis ; Sir William thought it right to call 
 there before Wednesday, if his friend did 
 not object to lengthening his ride. The 
 Marquis laughed, and assented to his friend's 
 reasons for visiting Stantley. Lord Stantley 
 was pleased with this mark of attention, 
 and took us to his farm yard to shew his 
 guinea pigs. These animals seemed but 
 s 2 
 
$00 CCELEBS SUITE©. 
 
 little to interest the Marquis, though he 
 listened with much attention to the benefits 
 to be expected. from them, and asked many 
 questions about them, to his Lordship's 
 great satisfaction; but when we heard 
 that Lady Hebe had walked over to the 
 Elms with her sister, he shewed but 
 little inclination to examine any other im- 
 provements, and departed ignorant of many 
 of the contrivances upon which his Lordship 
 particularly prided himself; his Lordship, 
 however, took the opportunity of presenting 
 him with his " Treatise on Manure," 
 sumptuously bound. 
 
 At Mr. Lamb's we found Lady Priscilla ? 
 Lady Hebe, and Ccelebs, and I had some 
 difficulty to persuade ourselves to leave this 
 charming family. They had been rallying 
 Lady Hebe upon the effect her song had had 
 upon the Marquis, and the Countess was 
 congratulating her on the success of her 
 finesse, as she termed the surprise it had 
 occasioned. In the midst of this pleasantry 
 we entered, and the poor girl was not 
 
% 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 261 
 
 a little confused, . when the servant 
 announced us. But if Lady Hebe was 
 embarrassed by our entrance, the -Marquis 
 was not less so; and it required no great 
 penetration to perceive how much he was 
 struck by her. After some general con- 
 versation, he ventured to request to be 
 favoured once more with the sons we had be- 
 fore but imperfectly heard. We were not less 
 charmed with it now; and the Marquis, whose 
 ear of music, and knowledge, are highly culti- 
 vated, pointed out a slight alteration; which 
 was admitted by Mr. Lamb to be an 
 improvement, and was adopted by her 
 Ladyship. 
 
 Sir William requested Miss Lamb to pro- 
 duce her port-folio of drawings, amongst 
 which he knew there were some by Lady Hebe. 
 The truth and spirit of her performances 
 are only excelled by those of professors of the 
 art, and exhibit great feeling and assiduitv. 
 The Marquis seems greatly charmed with 
 her; and her artless, modest, and engaging 
 ' manner, sets off her abilities with the greatest 
 
9.69, CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 lustre. We spent a pleasant hour, and 
 returned just in time to dress for dinner. 
 
 During our absence, Col. Embry had 
 arrived. Judge of my surprize and pleasure 
 at rinding him the same who had the com- 
 mand at Hern during the rebellion. His 
 spirit and promptitude in discovering the 
 retreats, and disconcerting the plans of 
 those deluded people, and the lenity he 
 showed to those who fell into his power, 
 has made his name dear equally to high 
 and low. He remembered being once at 
 Fairland, but it was during my absence; 
 and was very happy to hear my account 
 of our present tranquillity. " You may act," 
 said he, M with a little severity, and perhaps 
 some injustice, but you must never again 
 surfer rebellion to wear so fearful a front; I 
 would in the event of a recurrence of such 
 scenes use the most determined hostility at 
 the time, but afterwards amply recompense 
 the claims of those who had suffered un- 
 justly ; but whose innocence could not 
 be ascertained in the general disturbance." 
 
CCELEBS SUITED, 2.63 
 
 After coffee, we found ourselves in a corner 
 of the drawing room, talking over these 
 matters; and having noticed the inhabitants 
 of Rastock with the respect and affection 
 due to them, he passed to the character of 
 his ward, Sir William. 
 
 " His father," said he, " served in the 
 same regiment with myself in America, but 
 feeling disgusted at some supposed neglect, 
 he retired from the service. He was a man 
 of a violent temper, and had entered the 
 profession in a moment of contemptuous 
 indignation at the insolence, as he termed 
 it, of those rebellious colonies. He was 
 much disliked in the country, as a severe 
 magistrate, and overbearing neighbour; 
 punishing, with the greatest rigour, every 
 infringement of the game laws ; and endea- 
 vouring to rule at all public meetings by 
 the strength of his lungs, and the influence 
 of his fortune. His displeasure at not 
 obtaining the rank he wished, threw him into 
 opposition, and he exerted the most ran- 
 corous hostility against the ministry, and 
 
264 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 exhibited the most indecent joy at their ill- 
 success. . His riches brought around him 
 a number of factious discontented men of 
 broken fortunes, and his manners and habits 
 became loose and irregular. He was 
 passionately fond of hunting ; and was at 
 last killed by a fall from his horse, after 
 attempting to force him to a leap beyond 
 his strength. I had not seen him for manv 
 years, and was surprized to find myself 
 nominated to the trust of sole guardian of 
 his children. He had requested it of me 
 during a conversation we had one night 
 in my tent; and a memorandum of this, 
 with his nomination, was the onlv arrange - 
 ment he had made for the disposal of his 
 vast property. 
 
 '" Lady Paston, who was an excellent 
 woman, was strongly affected by the con- 
 duct and death of her husband, and her 
 melancholy, acting upon her religious turn 
 of mind, drove her to embrace some of the 
 absurd doctrines of the methodists ; from 
 n any of these, the society of Mr. Lamb's 
 
CCETL'KBS SUITED. 2&> 
 
 family' has gradually weaned her. My 
 profession would not allow me often to 
 visit her. ' She looked upon me as a man 
 of the world, and seldom required my 
 attendance. — I gave Sir William the best 
 education I could, placed about him the 
 most virtuous and learned men that were 
 recommended to me; and endeavoured 
 to mix the system of public and private 
 education, so as to preserve his morals 
 and integrity, at the same time that he 
 acquired courage to act in public, and to 
 render those qualities useful to his country. 
 I hope we shall soon see him a prominent 
 character in our national councils, when his 
 independence will never allow him to betray 
 his trust to ministerial influence ; and his 
 good sense will preserve him from lending 
 his support to unjust popular clamour, or 
 joining the ranks of a needy and harrassing 
 opposition. 
 
 " Yesterday he came into the possession of 
 a very large property, and the first order lie 
 made upon his banker, was to pay to the 
 
£66 CdLXBS SUITED. 
 
 respective treasurers of the Magdalen, 
 the Asylum, the Philanthropic, St. George's 
 and Middlesex Hospitals, and the Society 
 for the Relief of Persons imprisoned for 
 Small Debts, five hundred pounds, each ; 
 following in this the example of his friend* 
 the Marquis on the like occasion; in his 
 own parish too, he has granted annuities 
 to several old men, and as many old women. 
 These are actions worthy a rich and 
 enlightened man, these are deeds which will 
 never die ! and the recollection of this 
 period will live in the remembrance of all 
 ranks to his eternal honour ! He has at 
 the same time nobly enlarged his mother's 
 jointure, and presented his sisters with a 
 respectable independence. His approaching 
 marriage will be the consummation of my 
 wishes, and the end of my fears respecting 
 him ; and in the society of such friends as 
 the Elms will afford, and the company of 
 such a woman as Miss Lamb, he has a 
 fair chance of being the happiest of men: 
 
CCELEiiS SVITJED. 267 
 
 ** There shall the virtues, there shall Wisdom's train, 
 
 " Embrace the smiling family of arts, 
 " The Muses and the Graces." 
 
 I congratulated the Colonel on the success 
 of his endeavours, and on the sense which 
 Sir William seemed to entertain of his 
 kindness. 
 
 He desires I will make his best compli- 
 ments to you and Mrs. Rastock; and ex- 
 press his happiness at hearing that you 
 are both well. These doings remind me of 
 Fairland. I am glad to hear Dermot's 
 daughter has so good a prospect. Poot 
 Patrick is sadiv vexed at not being 
 present at the wedding, but has written to 
 Dermot to congratulate him. I thank you 
 for the kindness you have exerted towards 
 them, for which I remain your debtor. 
 Make my best compliments to Mrs. Rastock, 
 
 And believe me yours, 5;e. 
 
 Geo. Rover, 
 
C68 ' CO-LEES SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rasiock, 
 Esq, 
 
 Hawpton, JF? Its. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 We have had a day of Jubilee here 
 which will be lone remembered in the 
 
 county, as uniting elegance and liberality 
 with order and decorum, as establishing the 
 grace and charms of polished society without 
 excluding the hospitality of earlier times. 
 Nothing that a refined taste could suggest 
 or expence procure, was wanting. 
 
 Cards had been issued to all the nobility 
 and gentry of the neighbourhood, and the 
 respect in which Sir William and Mr. Lamb 
 are held, bro .: t vefal families from a very 
 great distance. The arrangements had been 
 completed under the super in ten dance of Sir 
 William and his friend, with as much secrecy 
 as possible, and even the greater part of the 
 ly themselves, were ignorant of them ; 
 I liefve to avoid the objections winch the 
 
CtELEBS SUITED. 269 
 
 rigid notions of Lady Paston might have 
 made to a part of them. 
 
 The house is situated in the centre of a 
 finely wooded park. A small but rapid river 
 divides it from the adjoining meadows, and 
 its steep bank, cut into irregular terraces, 
 extending for a considerable way along its 
 course, are finely clothed with wood. From 
 thence are seen the luxuriant meadows 
 opposite, and the distance is bounded by 
 the sea, and the high grounds of the Isle 
 of Wight. We had had but little appearance 
 of previous preparation, but on coming down 
 to breakfast were agreeably surprised by 
 seeing every thing completed, as if by the 
 wand of a fairy. 
 
 Opposite the drawing room windows, but 
 at a considerable distance, was erected an 
 awning of large dimensions supported by 
 slight pillars, entwined with honey suckles, 
 the floor painted of a grass green for dancing, 
 and from thence marquees were fixed, form- 
 ing a crescent to the house. — In the centre of 
 the lawn were placed the Pandean minstrels; 
 the band of the Suffolk militia ph 
 
£70 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 in the entrance hall ; and horns and other 
 wind instruments were stationed in the plan- 
 tations, and along the margins of the river. 
 Nothing could exceed our anxiety as to the 
 weather, which is so material to this species 
 of entertainment; fortunately it was as 
 favourable as could be ; the sun shone with 
 undiminished lustre during the whole day, 
 and a gentle breeze mitigated its fervour. 
 At about twelve o'clock the company began 
 to arrive. After receiving her friends in the 
 hall, (for the entertainment was given in 
 Lady Paston's name) she conducted them 
 to the lawn, where Sir William met them, 
 and received their congratulations; they 
 were then at liberty to ramble over these 
 beautiful grounds, and enjoy the full effect 
 of this scene of joy and merriment.— The 
 music, softened by the assemblage of the 
 wood and water, the gay and lively 
 appearance of the company, the view of the 
 opposite meadows covered by the people in 
 their holiday clothes, amusing themselves at 
 cricket and other exercises, and animated 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 271 
 
 by the presence of their families, was a scene 
 to enliven the spirits of the most gloomy, and 
 to give sincere pleasure to the true philan- 
 thropist. 
 
 By Sir William's order, marquees had 
 been fixed in these meadows, and every kind 
 of entertainment provided for the populace; 
 as he well knew that their curiosity would 
 be excited, and their expectation alive to 
 the share they were to take in the festivities, 
 and knowing that they would rather enjoy 
 themselves in their own way, than gape at 
 the amusements of others, he had thus 
 arranged it, so as to have the double effect 
 of gratifying them, and giving spirit to the 
 view from the woods. 
 
 At about two o'clock the company again 
 collected on the lawn, and the marquees were 
 thrown open, offering every delicacy of the 
 season. During the repast, the Pandeans re- 
 moved to the awning, and a number of dancers, 
 dressed in the lightest and most tasteful 
 manner, advanced from behind the marquees. 
 Thev were led bv Monsieur and Madame 
 
272 CC1LEES SUITED. 
 
 Deshays, whom Sir William had engaged, 
 with nearly the whole corps de Ballet. — 
 They went through a ballet and action, to 
 the infinite gratification of the company, 
 who were exceedingly delighted by the unex- 
 pected treat, and to many of whom it was 
 recommended by its novelty. 
 
 During the dance several persons came 
 forward as spectators, dressed in the character 
 of villagers, who proved to be some of the 
 best comic singers from the London theatres. 
 Between the acts ef the ballet, they sung 
 catches and glees, and at the conclusion 
 seated themselves on the grass, as if uncon- 
 scious of the presence of the company, enter- 
 tained us with a diverting dialogue, written 
 by Sir William, and interspersed with the 
 most favorite songs and glees. — Soon after 
 the Marquis led Miss Paston to the awning. 
 Sir William took Miss Lamb, and the danc- 
 ing commenced and was kept up with great 
 spirit till the evening closed in, and put an 
 end to our joyous amusement. — I was so 
 carried away by the scene as to dance too. 
 
CCELEES SUITED. 273 
 
 and Coeleb and his partner, Lady Priscilla, 
 were more alert than I gave them credit for, 
 but it could scarcely be otherwise. — After 
 the first dance the Marquis attached himself to 
 Lady Hebe, and appeared even more pleased 
 with her than formerly. — We were now sum- 
 moned to the house, which we found most 
 brilliantly illuminated. The great hall and 
 staircase were lighted with a profusion of 
 variegated lamps; the long gallery in which 
 supper was served, was decorated with beauti- 
 ful emblematical transparencies, interspersed 
 with laurel and oak branches. — Nothing 
 could be more tastefully arranged, and the 
 repast consisted of every delicacy of the sea- 
 son. The beauty and elegance of the females, 
 the interesting occasion of the entertainment, 
 and the delightful singing of several pro- 
 fessional men and amateurs, made the scene 
 completely enchanting. Among the ladies 
 the Miss Lambs were conspicuous, for the 
 unaffected taste and simplicity of their dress, 
 and by the exact propriety of their behaviour 
 — not a constrained and formal conduct, too 
 
 T 
 
274 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 often held up as the line of propriety, but an 
 animated and joyous expression of delight 
 at the happiness which surrounded them. 
 
 Every one seemed to leave the fairy scene 
 with regret, and as the Marquis handed 
 Lady Hebe to the carriage, he expressed his 
 hope that she would not suffer by her exer- 
 tions, and hinted his intention of having the 
 honour of enquiring after her health to- 
 morrow. As they drove off he followed them 
 with his eyes along the avenue, and turning 
 suddenly to Ccelebs, who was engaged 
 in the same contemplation, he congratulated 
 him with unusual fervour on his approaching 
 happiness. Then addressing himself to 
 Sir William; "I fear," said he, " I have 
 been less attentive to your guests than 
 became me as your inmate, but I have 
 been so much entertained with my lovely 
 partner in the dance, that I may have 
 neglected other duties. 5 " Sir William laughed 
 at the excuse, and admitted his apology. 
 We returned to the drawing room; Mr. 
 Lamb's family and the Beaufields were pre- 
 
C02LEBS SUITED. 275 
 
 paring to depart. The Marquis repeated his 
 apology to Lady Paston. — iC I am happy," 
 returned her Ladyship, "that we have been 
 able to amuse vou so well : and indeed 
 that Lady Hebe obtained so excellent a 
 partner ; I have heard she is a charming 
 girl." " She is indeed," said Mr. Lamb, 
 " her intimacy in my family has given 
 me great opportunities of judging of her, 
 and I know that she possesses the best of 
 hearts, and the most cultivated mind." The 
 subject dropped here ; for one cannot en- 
 large upon these topics. To praise Lady 
 Hebe, is almost to dispraise Lady Priscilla, 
 an unthankful office, in presence of her lover ; 
 and the systems of the Beaufields and Mr. 
 Lamb are so much at variance, that nothing 
 but a serious argument can arise out of any 
 observations on their particular merits. 
 They left us soon after, complimenting Sir 
 William and his frieud on the arrangements 
 of their fete, and the success of their endea- 
 vours to please. 
 
 On opening my letters at night, (for the 
 t 2 
 
276 COF.LEBS SUITED. 
 
 day had employed me too much for me to 
 think of them,) I found one from Colonel 
 Urington, requesting my attendance in 
 London, as some opposition had arisen in 
 the Lords to our bill, and to which I was 
 summoned as a witness. I have made the 
 merits of the case known to the Marquis, 
 who thinks our application very proper, 
 and has promised to accompany me to 
 London, and give it his support. The 
 ardour with which he performs every duty 
 he undertakes, and the weight he had 
 already acquired, leaves me no doubt of 
 our ultimate success. This morning we are 
 to ride to see our neighbours, after the 
 fatigues ; and to-morrow I shall accompany 
 the Marquis to London. The considera- 
 tion of our business is fixed for Monday 
 next. I have not received a letter from 
 you for this fortnight past; I hope the winds 
 are the only obstacle in the way of my 
 hearing from you. With best remembrances 
 to Mrs. Rastock, believe me, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
CGELEBS SUITED. 277 
 
 Sir G. Rover, Bart, to Charles Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 Hampton, Wilts. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I received a packet of letters 
 from Ireland by yesterday's post, and was 
 particularly gratified in finding two from 
 Rastock. That you and all your good 
 family enjoy uninterrupted health must give 
 pleasure to all who know you, and that my 
 remarks afford you entertainment repays me 
 amply for any trouble you may suppose I 
 have in committing them to paper. — The 
 epigram you have met with, respecting the 
 bridge and water at Blenheim, referred to 
 the place during the life time of the late 
 Duke. — The original intention of the bridge 
 was scarcely more than to connect two hills, 
 and to enable you to approach the principal 
 front of the house in a direct and curb line. 
 A very insignificant brook meandered in the 
 
278 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 bottom. The liberality and taste of the 
 present possessor, directed by the knowledge 
 of the famous capability Brown, at a great 
 expence dammed up the river, and flooded 
 the valley. On completing his design, and 
 assuring himself of its security, he is said 
 to have exclaimed, " that the Thames would 
 never forgive him for what he had done at 
 Blenheim." 
 
 On Thursday morning we rode over to 
 Stantley, and as we turned towards the park, 
 we perceived our friend Ccelebs coming over 
 the Downs at speed. If I were of such 
 a temperament, I could have envied the feel- 
 ings of my three friends, whose sentiments 
 were here so muchin unison, and all of whom 
 seemed to be so exactly on the same scent. 
 None of us could restrain a smile as we 
 shook hands. We were glad to hear that 
 the Beau field's were well. Lord Stantlev 
 was gone to meet Sir John at one of his 
 farms, but the ladies were at home. They 
 were discussing the amusements of the pre- 
 ceding day, and on our entrance retraced the. 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 279 
 
 pleasing subject ; not with a jeering triumph 
 at those who were worse drest or less alert 
 than themselves, but seeking to discriminate 
 and give due praise to the really elegant 
 and unaffected.— After some time it was 
 proposed to walk to the Elms, and the grooms 
 were sent round with the horses. Sir William 
 and I took the lead, Ccelebs escorted Lady 
 Priscilla, and the Marquis took Lady Hebe 
 under his care. — As we entered the library, 
 the penetrating and arch look of the Countess 
 drew a smile from his Lordship, and raised 
 a blush on the cheek of Lady Hebe, which 
 she retired to a window to conceal. The 
 Marquis had certainly made the most of his 
 time, and the thoughtful and hesitating 
 manner of Lady Hebe made it evident to 
 those who were acquainted with her, that 
 she had something of more than common 
 interest to ponder over. 
 • Here again the fete was the subject of 
 conversation. " Indeed, Sir William," said 
 the Countess, "you gave us yesterday a 
 very great treat. How much to be regretted, 
 
230 CCELEB5 SUITED, 
 
 that this species of entertainment is not 
 more general ; I mean not to require it 
 always to be carried to so great an extent. 
 The routine of a London rout, can never 
 repay the fatigue." " I don't know," said 
 the Marquis, "how any greater variety can 
 be given to London pleasures, than are at 
 present enjoyed." " But you will allow 
 with me," replied the Countess, "that they 
 are generally very unvaried, and very dull." 
 " I do," said his Lordship, "and I agree 
 with Goldsmith, that the system of opening 
 our houses to immense multitudes of people, 
 whose faces one is scarcely acquainted with, 
 and whose characters one is perfectly in- 
 different to, to the neglect of public places, 
 such as Ranelagh and Vauxhall, is absurd. 
 — It is there the business of the proprietor 
 to provide an entertainment which must have 
 taste and novelty to recommend it, and if a 
 full dress were insisted upon, ami admission 
 refused to those who were indecent, or would 
 not conform to these regulations, such place 
 ought to receive great encouragement. 
 
CGSLEBS SUITED. 281 
 
 would allow us to enjoy our own houses, and 
 not so anxiously to consider, in the choice of 
 a residence, the probability of being able to 
 accommodate five hundred persons at a time, 
 scarcely five of whom we admit to the fa- 
 miliarity of an ordinary acquaintance." 
 
 " The present rage for large routs," said 
 Mr. Lamb, "is certainly very ridiculous, 
 to c:Jl it by no harsher term. — To send 
 invitations to persons whom one would 
 scarcely acknowledge in the public streets, 
 to encourage black legs, and seek the com- 
 pany of people of oftentimes very equivocal 
 character, because they have beauty, or wit to 
 recommend them, or because without them 
 you can scarcely fill your rooms, is a great re- 
 flection on the good sense of the town." "But 
 surely," said Lady Hebe, "character must 
 have some weight among people of fashion ; 
 there cannot be many so depraved as to 
 overlook in their associates the absence of 
 virtue and honor." "When a favorite object 
 is to be obtained," replied Air. Lamb, " the 
 means are too often but little regarded. 
 
C~C. CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 The intention is here to give a splendid rout, 
 and that cannot be done without a numerous 
 and splendid company. This drives people 
 to invite all within a certain rank, with (I 
 will not say no regard, but in fact very little) 
 to character, and with scarcely any other 
 idea than the eclat of immensely crowded 
 drawing rooms. 
 
 " And the mischief does not stop here. 
 One person can scarcely refuse to converse 
 with another whom he may meet at the house 
 of a mutual acquaintance, and perhaps he 
 is ignorant, at the time, of the unprincipled 
 conduct and loose sentiments of the person 
 he is talking to. He sees him gay and ele- 
 gantly dressed, and thinks him honorable; 
 and thus an intimacy may be made with a 
 scoundrel, whom you would otherwise never 
 have met, or had you met him, it would have 
 been in such situations as would have put 
 you en your guard against him, and this 
 applies equally, or indeed with more force, 
 to females." 
 
 " Domestic comfort is sacrificed," said 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 283 
 
 Coelebs, "and the example extends its 
 baneful influence much wider than we may 
 think. Every class of society is injured by 
 the scenes of dissipation which the great 
 daily exhibit." " My dear sir, you are too 
 harsh a censurer," replied Mr. Lamb, "the 
 great as they exhibit great follies, are likewise 
 foremost in the display of genuine patriotism, 
 and the practice of virtuous and laudable 
 conduct. Every virtue and every vice may 
 be said to thrive there, and though evil 
 example is more followed than good, yet that 
 is not the fault of the rich or powerful. It 
 is a few among them that do all the harm, 
 and the influence of the rest is scarcely able 
 to counteract the prejudices such conduct 
 encourages." — " I think, sir," said Lady 
 Hebe, " that if you lived in London, you 
 would give great entertainments." "I would 
 give entertainments," replied Mr. Lamb. "I 
 know not if the town would call them great 
 I would invite my acquaintance, that out of 
 them I might select friends, but they should 
 all be people of character, and I would 
 
 
ZcA CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 never sacrifice the honour of my house, and 
 the credit of my party, to the foolish grati- 
 fication of having it reported that I had given 
 a splendid rout" 
 
 The Marquis mentioned his intention of 
 going to London to-morrow. — Lady Hebe, 
 could not conceal an expression of extreme 
 surprize. "You are very sudden, my Lord," 
 said the Countess, " it must be a matter of 
 great moment to carry you from us so un- 
 expectedly." " It is indeed," said his 
 Lordship. "Sir George Rover is interested 
 in a bill which is now on its passage through 
 the house, he thinks that my presence may 
 expedite it, and I am happy to think I may 
 be of service to him." — " We shall not lose 
 you for any great length of time I hope," 
 said Mr. Lamb. " I propose to return in the 
 course of next week," replied his Lordship. 
 "Sir William has a claim upon me, which I 
 shall be most happy to attend to, though 
 Wiltshire does not want attraction, had 
 I not this engagement to revisit it." I 
 expressed my regret at being the means 
 
co:lees suited. S285 
 
 of carrying him to London at this moment, 
 but he politely refused the compliment, and 
 assured us, that some other concerns equally 
 demanded his attention. 
 
 Soon after, Lady Priscilla and her sister 
 proposed returning, and the Miss Lambs 
 offered to accompany them. In retracing 
 our steps, I took the Marquis's arm, who 
 had again attached himself to Lady Hebe. 
 In our way he expressed his admiration of 
 Mr. Lamb, his great respect for his virtues, 
 and good sense, and his regard for his 
 opinions; Lady Hebe joined with him, and 
 instanced some noble acts of benevolence, 
 which he had performed with a delicacy and 
 feeling, that did him great honour. As we 
 crossed a little rustic bridge, she pointed 
 out the former boundary of the water, and 
 lines which the woods formed, when they 
 first came into Wiltshire. " His Lordship 
 has certainly sacrificed much beauty to his 
 plans," said the Marquis. " But he has the 
 satisfaction," replied Lady Hebe quickly, 
 **' to think that he does much good thereby." 
 
£S6 CGELEBS SUITED. 
 
 " Lord Stantley s good motive cannot be 
 questioned," said his Lordship, " and it 
 would be well if every one as seriously 
 devoted themselves to the service of their 
 country." 
 
 The park has still some little natural 
 beauty left, which the Marquis did not fail 
 to point out; and we found that our fair 
 companion had selected most of them as 
 subjects for the pencil. We had attempted 
 to return by the lower path, but the effect of 
 the late rains had rendered it impracticable, 
 and we were obliged to take the road 
 through the village. Nothing could exceed 
 the respect with which both the young ladies 
 were viewed by the villagers ; but I think I 
 perceive more affection in the common 
 people of Mr. Lamb's village, towards their 
 generous benefactors. 
 
 Lady Stantley was in the library at our 
 return, and on hearing that I was going to 
 London to-morrow, requested that I would 
 do her the favour to procure for her, the 
 regulations of the New Society of Female 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 287 
 
 Literati ; some skeins of yarn, prepared by 
 an improved method ; and a receipt for a 
 new and cheap potatoe pudding, which 
 her friend, ?>Irs. Ferrett, has invented. I 
 thanked her for honouring me with her 
 commissions, and having taken the addresses 
 of the persons from whom I was to obtain 
 the various articles, I enquired if it were 
 possible that the celebrated Female Literary 
 Club was about to be revived? "And why 
 not, Sir George r" replied Lady Stantley, 
 "can you wish to keep all the learning to 
 yourselves, or do you think that ignorance 
 becomes a woman better than knowledge, 
 and reduces her more easily to the rank of a 
 domestic drudge."' " Excuse me, Lady 
 Stantley,*' said I, " I am not prepared to 
 defend myself, but I know that the general 
 feeling is against these coteries, and thought 
 that the effect of several severe satires, 
 which are yet read with much pleasure, 
 would have debarred our modern females 
 from a like attempt." M But,"' returned her 
 Ladyship, "if the attempt is laudable? ought 
 
288 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 a satire to drive us from the endeavour, or 
 ought we to relinguish an attainment because 
 those who dreaded our talents sought to 
 repress them?" "We see every where 
 around us," said the Marquis, " that know- 
 ledge does not render women less amiable, 
 and Sir George only dreads that this new 
 principle may render them less accessible." 
 This little unction softened her Ladyship, 
 for I found too late niy error, and had not 
 an apology at hand ; I was therefore most 
 thankful for being thus helped out by my 
 friend. 
 
 We shortly after took leave, and returned 
 to dine with Lady Paston at her new 
 residence ; the good Dr. Templeton was of 
 our dinner party, and returned with us to 
 Hampton, where he will take up his abode 
 for a few days. As we were calmly sitting 
 after supper, the Doctor addressed himself 
 to Sir William, and expressed his pleasure at 
 seeing Miss Harriet Lamb more composed, 
 and even willing to be amused. " Her 
 sister's situation," said Sir William, "prompts 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 m 
 
 her to exert herself, and indeed her own 
 prospects may warrant a gaiety she has till 
 lately been a stranger to." I had remarked 
 that she had a melancholy about her, which 
 I did not understand, and had perceived 
 that the attentions of her father, and the 
 rest of the family were very much directed 
 to her amusement ; I enquired if the cause 
 were at all of a private nature ? " Rather 
 so," replied SirWilliam, "but as we have now 
 more than a prospect that this unfortunate 
 affair will terminate happily, Dr. Tem- 
 pleton will perhaps relate the circumstances, 
 while I request you to excuse my absence, 
 that I may give the Marquis some com- 
 missions which he has been kind enough to 
 offer to execute for me in London." He 
 then left the room, with his friend, and the 
 Doctor began as follows : 
 
 "Mr. Wilford, a gentlemen who resides on 
 the edge of the Forest, and who possesses a 
 small estate in the county, has an only son. 
 of whom he was mott doatinglv fond, and 
 whom he could scarcely ever be persuaded 
 u 
 
290 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 to trust from his sight. He could not bear 
 the idea of sending him to school, where 
 his health might suffer by the inattention 
 of masters, and his morals by the ill-example 
 of other boys, but kept him at home, 
 under a domestic tutor, from whom he 
 received a very good education, and was as 
 learned as books could make him; of the 
 great world and its intricacies he was entirely- 
 ignorant. He had great expectations from 
 an uncle, a merchant in London, who had 
 always been very partial to his nephew, and 
 being yet a batchelor, had declared him his 
 heir. With these pretensions he became a 
 welcome visitor at the Elms. — He had 
 almost from a child been an admirer of Miss 
 Harriot, and his free access to the house at 
 all times, gave him an opportunity of paying 
 her great attention, and produced on her 
 side, a serious and warm attachment. To 
 their union, his youth was the only obstacle. 
 Mr. Lamb could not object to his connexions ; 
 he had no vices, no bad propensities, his 
 learning and ability were universally allowed, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 291 
 
 and his fortune, though not large, was even 
 now amply sufficient. Still did Mr. Lamb 
 always regret that he had been bred to no 
 profession, or rather that he had not been 
 bred a little more in the world. He would 
 often say with St. Aubert, * This young man 
 has never been in London.' 
 
 " His uncle, who had gone there early in 
 life, had acquired a large fortune in the su- 
 perintendance of an extensive commercial 
 concern. He had often pressed his brother 
 to place his son with him, instead of allowing 
 him to waste his time, as he termed it, in the 
 limited range of action, and the unprofitable 
 occupations of a country gentleman. Ashe 
 intended shortly to give up his share in the 
 management, and to retire to the enjoyment 
 of his great gains, he was now more anxious 
 than ever to bring forward his nephew to 
 succeed him, and the fond father, who saw 
 his son now in his nineteenth year, felt 
 some confidence that the good principles he 
 had endeavoured to implant in his mind 
 •'vould preserve him from harm, and in the 
 
 17 £ 
 
292 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 hope of completely establishing him in his 
 uncle's affections, committed him to his care. 
 The distress of the father at parting with his 
 only son was great, still he was buoyed up 
 by the expectation of seeing him return more 
 affluent, and therein, as he thought, more 
 worthy of Miss Lamb's affection. — But our 
 poor Harriot was the greatest sufferer ; she 
 could see no occasion for his being richer, 
 and dreaded the chance of his becoming less 
 virtuous. Her modesty would not permit 
 her to shew any great grief at his leaving the 
 country, but a sad presentiment thathis good 
 nature would be imposed upon, and his 
 ignorance of mankind make him a prey to 
 designing villains, always troubled her. — 
 From books she had learnt how often the most 
 vigorous resolutions had given way to the 
 ridicule and allurements of the wicked, and 
 though she now knew him virtuous, she 
 likewise knew that he had had no temptations 
 to be otherwise. Mr. Lamb would not 
 suffer his daughter to enter into any engage- 
 ments, but it was an implied agreement that 
 
i 
 
 CCELEI3S SUITED. 2<)3 
 
 in three years, when he should have reached 
 his twenty-second year, they should be united. 
 —The parting of the young people was tender 
 and affecting. — Mr. Lamb encou raged him 
 to write frequently ; and after taking him 
 into his study, and giving him some excellent 
 advice for the regulation of his future conduct, 
 and beseeching him to confide in him as a 
 true friend in any difficulty that might occur, 
 parted with him with scarce less emotion than 
 his daughter. 
 
 "In his uncle's counting-house were several 
 young men, who had never been out of the 
 sound of Bow bell, but who were perfectly 
 acquainted with, and initiated in all the 
 routine of London dissipation. The whole 
 concern of the morning was to consider how 
 they might purchase most pleasure for the 
 evening, at the smallest expence ; they were 
 however, sufficiently on their guard not to 
 be drawn into any great extravagancies, and 
 their pleasures were bounded by the extent 
 of their means. — When young Wilford took 
 his seat in the counting-house, a novice in 
 
 
 *' 
 
2^4 CtELEBS SUITED. 
 
 the ways of the town, and possessing naturally 
 an open and animated nature, he was struck 
 by the gaiety of his companions, by the 
 history of their exploits, and by the vivid 
 descriptions of their amusements. — But his 
 observations soon shewed him how little they 
 knew, and how slight was their acquaintance 
 with any thing but the routine of the counting 
 house, and the lobbies of the theatres. In 
 his early communications with Mr, Lamb, 
 he recounted only his uncle's kindness, and 
 the civilities he had experienced from his 
 numerous friends. — His companions at the 
 desk he did not think worth noticing ; and 
 when he returned, to spend the Christmas 
 with his father and his early friends, they 
 found him rather improved in manner, and 
 not less open or engaging. If they were 
 pleased with him, how much more was he 
 delighted with his Harriot's reception of him. 
 and with her improvement in every grace and 
 every charming accomplishment. He left 
 them more confident in himself, and with 
 less diffidence of his own ability to direct 
 and regulate his conduct 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 2^0 
 
 " He found on his return to the counting- 
 house, a young man of the most fascinating 
 manners, but of loose and licentious princi- 
 ples, who had, till then, been absent from ill 
 health, the consequence of his own irregu- 
 larities. — At the same time that he was un-. 
 principled and extravagant, he kept a steady 
 eye on the prospect of obtaining a share in 
 the concern, on the old gentleman's retiring, 
 and heard with great uneasiness of the intro- 
 duction of young Wilford. He however 
 quickly resolved on his plan of conduct 
 towards him. From the first time he saw 
 him, he paid him the most obsequious 
 attention, studied every art to make himself 
 agreeable to him, and in the end succeeded 
 so well as to make him a confident of his 
 pleasures, and the companion of his noc- 
 turnal carousals. — But I will not enlarge 
 upon our young friend's fall. He was only 
 twice afterwards at the Elms, and though 
 neither quite so chearful, nor apparently 
 quite so healthy as formerly, yet not so 
 altered as to create any suspicion, or excite 
 any apprehension. 
 
 
 
L 296 CCDLEBS SUITED. 
 
 " Many a pang did his false representations 
 of his manner of spending his time cost 
 him, and the difficulties which he experienced 
 to satisfy some claims upon him, which his 
 extravagance had created, agitated him still 
 more, For these his friend promised to 
 procure supplies, and he felt not the extreme 
 of his folly, 'till the threat of an arrest 
 brought him again to his senses. He applied 
 once more to his friend, who pretended 
 that his funds were too low to cover the 
 unexpected demand, and advised a fraudu- 
 lent appropriation of some of his uncle's 
 riches. — All this was the result of a settled 
 plan to ruin Wilford in the old gentleman's 
 opinion, and to place himself in his stead ; 
 but the proposal of a fraud upon his kind 
 benefactor struck him with horror. He 
 retired to his chamber, and the first effect 
 of his returning reason was to examine the 
 state of his affairs, and to acquaint himself 
 with the extent of the demands upon him. 
 He was thunderstruck at their magnitude, 
 and the shock be received so affected him 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 29/« 
 
 as to confine him for some time to his 
 room. 
 
 " Daring his seclusion, he revolved every 
 method of retrieving his affairs, without 
 burthening his friends ; and of recovering 
 his character (which the publication of his 
 follies must injure) by his own exertions. 
 At his next attendance upon change, he kept 
 his attention awake to any enquiries for a 
 person to superintend any foreign specula- 
 tion, and soon closed with a favourable 
 offer to take the direction of a commercial 
 house, in a healthy part of the West Indies. 
 He then waited upon every one of his 
 creditors, obtained from them, with but 
 little trouble, the liberty of prosecuting his 
 plan ; and immediately completed his ar- 
 rangements with the greatest secresy. When 
 he saw every thing ready, and the time fixed 
 for his sailing, he acquainted his uncle with 
 the whole of his situation, and of his plan 
 of retrieving his affairs, by quitting, for a 
 short time, his native land. Astonished at 
 the recital, and alarmed at the consequences 
 
2Q8 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 of jsuch a step, as affecting the happiness of 
 his brother, the good man used every means 
 to dissuade him from the scheme; offered to 
 discharge all his debts, and pointed out the 
 much greater chance of recovering his affairs 
 at home in a concern at which he would 
 shortly be at the head, than in a foreign 
 speculation amongst strangers. His re- 
 solution was however taken, he could not 
 bear the idea of remaining in England, with- 
 out seeing his Harriot, and to see her with 
 the present weight on his conscience was 
 an idea at which he shuddered. His uncle 
 finding all his endeavours to turn him vain, 
 supplied him liberally with money, allowed 
 him the full advantage of his credit ; 
 promised to conceal from his father the real 
 motive of his journey, and to place it to the 
 account of a business connected with the 
 firm, which required immediate attention. 
 Young Wilford then wrote to Mr. Lamb, 
 and requested the favor of a meeting at 
 Salisbury, and begging the favor of my 
 presence also, 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. £99 
 
 "We immediately suspected that all was 
 not right, and hastened to see him. The kind 
 manner in which Mr. Lamb met him, for a 
 ti'ne completely overpowered him, but at 
 length recovering himself. — ■ I have re- 
 quested this interview, Sir," said he, ' and 
 the presence of Dr. Templeton as a witness 
 to my contrition, and to my determined 
 resolve. I have much to say, and will 
 consider you attention, without interruption, 
 as a favor. I shall merely relate facts; 
 nor shall I seek to excuse myself by the 
 indiscretion incident to youth, or the 
 ignorance of a confined education.' He then 
 recounted in a clear distinct manner the 
 history of his follies ; produced a statement 
 of his engagements ; and then detailed the 
 nature of the situation he had accepted, and 
 the advantages he proposed to himself 
 from it. 
 
 "After a pause, 'What I have hitherto 
 said/ continued he, 'depends onmyself alone 
 for its execution ; but I have a request to 
 make which the character of Mr. Lamb and 
 
300 CffiLEBS SUITED. 
 
 Dr. Templeton would deter me from, if the 
 motive were any other than to save the 
 heart of a father from the distress of hearing 
 that his son is unworthy, and to shield him 
 from the bitter pang of disappointed af- 
 fection. To my uncle every thing that 
 I have now related to you, is known. He 
 will attribute my absence to the extension 
 of the firm, and the increasing advantages 
 of the trade. May I hope that my other 
 friends will not contradict such a report ? 
 and will save me from the reflection, that I 
 have destroyed the peace of the kindest of 
 parents, and brought his grey hairs with 
 sorrow to the grave.' 
 
 "The scene was most affecting; the manly 
 firmness with which he had began his recital 
 had gradually failed him, and when he spoke 
 of his father, and the effect his follies might 
 have upon his peace, his voice faultered, the 
 tears rolled down his cheeks, and he 
 turned aside to conceal his emotion. We 
 promised to be ruled by his wishes, and Mr. 
 Lamb, who was equally affected, was pro- 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. SOI 
 
 ceeding to endeavour to dissuade him from 
 quitting the country, when young YTilford 
 interrupted him, ' Tis now impossible,' 
 said he, ' but you have relieved my heart 
 from a load of anxiety ; and my hopes of 
 success increase from your willingness to 
 assist me.' 
 
 "After some hesitation, he continued, 
 1 There is another subject, Sir, that I 
 scarcely dare touch upon, but I know that 
 my happiness alone is not concerned in my 
 success, and this idea has supported me in 
 my present resolution, and given me courage 
 to make this frank avowal. 
 
 1 Your daughter, Sir, — may I think that 
 this enumeration of my follies has not so 
 lowered me in your esteem as to cut me off 
 from my greatest hope of happiness, and my 
 principal tie to life.' Mr. Lamb assured 
 him that his candour had even raised him in 
 his esteem, and strongly urged him still to 
 remain in England. ?My resolve is taken,' 
 said he, ' I have written to my father to 
 inform him of my destination, and to say 
 
302, CGELEBS SUITED. 
 
 that I will spend to-morrow with him. On 
 the following day, the vessel which will 
 convey me to Jamaica will sail.' — After a 
 considerable pause. — ' Might I once see 
 Harriot before I go?' said he; * I should 
 leave England with even less reluctance: 
 might I be allowed to assure myself that she 
 will excuse my indiscretions, and accept the 
 contrition of a sincere penitent!' ' I will 
 make my daughter acquainted with the 
 circumstances,' said Mr. Lamb; 'to her, 
 concealment would be unpardonable; af- 
 fectionately taking his hand, ' in my estima- 
 tion your conduct has raised you ;' said he, 
 * my carriage shall come for you to-morrow 
 morning, and from the Elms, may convey 
 you to your father. Your candour and 
 your high principles attach me even more 
 to you than before, and let me press you 
 to accept from me, either as a loan to be 
 returned, if your speculations are successful, 
 or, as a gift, should the reverse be the case, 
 this draft — ' ! My uncle's liberality,' 
 replied he, 'precludes the necessity of your 
 
CALEBS SUITED. 303 
 
 kind offer, which I would otherwise thank- 
 fully accept. Let me know that I leave 
 England with some hope that Harriot may 
 yet be mine, and my toils will be light 
 indeed.' Mr. Lamb repeated his expressions 
 of good-will towards him, and in our way 
 home, declared his conviction of his sincerity 
 and honour. I have heard from his uncle, 
 the highest encomiums on his industry and 
 activity, and his integrity is unquestionable. 
 with these qualifications he must succeed. 
 
 "On his return home, he acquainted his 
 daughter in the gentlest manner possible, of 
 young Wilford's embarrassments, attributing 
 them chiefly to unsuccessful speculations, 
 and then mentioned the resolution he had 
 taken. 'I have consented,' said he, 'that 
 he shall see you to-morrow, and I shall send 
 the carriage to Salisbury to fetch him/ — 
 ' To-morrow, Sir 1' exclaimed Harriot ; 
 'may I not go to see him to-night? His 
 disasters ought not to make us abandon him, 
 and if his conduct has otherwise been good 
 and virtuous, he must want our kind atteft- 
 
304 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 tions to lighten his sorrows and alleviate hi* 
 distresses/ ' After my interview with him 
 this morning,' said Mr. Lamb, 'his mind 
 will not be sufficiently recovered to see yon.' 
 1 Then to-morrow morning, Sir, I hope 
 you will not object to my accompanying you 
 in the carriage ; grant me this request, and 
 I will relinquish the idea of seeing him 
 to-night' To this Mr. Lamb consented. 
 After a most affecting interview they ail 
 came to the Elms to breakfast ; for his 
 daughter had ordered the carriage at five 
 o'clock, and was ready to depart long before 
 that hour. From thence he went to visit 
 his father, greatly relieved by his kind 
 reception, and the next morning called at 
 the Elms, in the way to Portsmouth. After 
 taking a most affectionate farewell, and 
 receiving from Mr. Lamb the same pressing 
 injunction to write as formerly, he left 
 them with a feeling of sincere love and 
 veneration. 
 
 "He is expected home in the autumn. 
 His ability m his new situation 1ms gained 
 
CCELEBS SUITEI>. 305 
 
 him the highest credit, and his public con- 
 duct on a late occasion has drawn from the 
 Governor the greatest encomiums, and a 
 recommendation to the Ministry to confer 
 on him some lasting honour. His uncle 
 just lived to heaf this gratifying account, 
 and died, leaving him heir to his immense 
 wealth." I thanked the Doctor for his 
 recital. "Thus," continued he, " has been 
 saved to his country a valuable man whom 
 harshness or negligence might have drawn 
 to self-destruction, and thus we see that 
 though the learning of books does not 
 always teach the knowledge of men, yet that 
 an acquaintance with the writings of the 
 ancients implants in us a strong principle of 
 liberty and independence, and encourages 
 us to a spirited exertion of our own 
 abilities." Soon after Sir William and his 
 friend returned, and we retired for the: 
 night. 
 
 The enquiries you make after young 
 
 Hancourt, I will endeavour to satisfy myself 
 
 x ----- 
 
306 CCELEBS SUITED, 
 
 about, and procure the other information 
 you want. With best remembrances to Mrs, 
 Hancourt, and all my friends, 
 
 Believe me, &c. &c\ 
 
 George Rover. 
 
CALEBS SUITED. 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 
 Esq. 
 
 London. 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 We left Hampton early on Friday 
 morning, and reached Salisbury to breakfast. 
 On our way down I had not an opportunity 
 of visiting its beautiful cathedral, and I now 
 accompanied the Marquis to see it. Great 
 alterations have lately been made to it, 
 under the superintendance of a much 
 esteemed architect, whether for the better 
 or not I cannot determine. Every age thinks 
 it improves on the ideas and designs of 
 its predecessor; for my own part, I cannot 
 but think that the best line of conduct is, 
 to keep in as complete repair as possible 
 those remains which are yet left us; and 
 neither to add nor take away any thing 
 under the uncertain plea of improvement. 
 The building is indeed very elegant, and 
 gives an exalted idea of the knowledge and 
 skill of our ancestors. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 CCBLEBS SUITED. 
 
 As we again entered the carriage, the 
 master of the inn informed us of the death 
 of Lord Fortnam ; a nobleman who has long 
 been foremost in the patronage of the arts, 
 and famous for his collection of pictures, 
 antique statues, and gems. 
 
 " These remains," said the Marquis, 
 "cannot be too much prized, but we should 
 not purchase them to the neglect of our 
 native artists. To painters and statuaries 
 great encouragement has lately been given, 
 but other arts ought to share in the liberality 
 of the times. The ring I wear is the work 
 of an artist, whom the want of encourage- 
 ment drove from his country, and obliged 
 to seek employ at foreign courts. The 
 engraved gems which this nobleman, as well 
 as others, purchased at immense prices, are 
 certainly great efforts ; but at the same time 
 that they give extravagant sums, in many 
 instances, for supposed specimens of an- 
 tiques, they refuse to purchase the works of 
 moderns at the most moderate charge, which 
 has compelled professors of great excellence 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 309 
 
 in this curious art, to seek patronage in 
 other countries, and in other employs. In 
 proof of which, I am in possession of 
 an impression from a ring, shewed my 
 father by the Duke of Dorrett, when at 
 Paris, said to be the actual portrait of 
 Julius Cffisar, and which was certainly im- 
 posed upon him when at Rome for such, by 
 his English banker, who had acquired the 
 Italian° mode of dealing; he having as a 
 matter of great favour selected it from his 
 baguette ; and had the assurance to charge 
 his Grace sixty pounds sterling for this 
 soi-disant portrait, of which the badness of 
 execution, and total deficiency of character, 
 leave in my mind no doubt of its being the 
 work of some inferior artist of the time, for 
 which he most likely did not receive more 
 than a sequin or two. And I well remember 
 my father relating his being present, when 
 an English artist of great merit in this line, 
 *as shewing his Grace some of his works, one 
 of which pleasing the Duke particularly, he 
 requested to know the price; the artist 
 
310 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 replied, fifteen guineas ; when his Grace 
 tendered him, twelve ; which the artist 
 modestly, and properly refused. Judge of 
 my father's feeling, when he could not resist 
 exclaiming, ' Oh ! Duke, never bargain 
 with an artist !' One of the most eminent 
 in this line, a man much talked of, who has 
 been long known for his ability, and who 
 lias been elected to nearly the highest 
 honour that our Academy of Arts can confer, 
 has been glad to accept a situation of com- 
 paratively small profit, and little credit, to 
 secure himself a livelihood ; and to employ 
 bis time in superintending the cutters of 
 newspaper stamps, and other trumpery, 
 instead of exerting himself to leave behind 
 him works which would have almost rivalled 
 those of antiquity, and have gratified 
 posterity by the likenesses of our princes, 
 statesmen, and warriors. Some noblemen 
 have had their collections engraved, and 
 have been proud to see their names attached 
 to them ; yet have they refused their support 
 to their countrymen — men of scarcely less 
 
C(ELE£S SUITED. SI 1 
 
 ability than those whose works they now 
 idolize; and suffered them to languish in 
 obscurity and neglect. In the execution of 
 this elegant art," continued the Marquis, 
 "is required great feeling, great taste, 
 and great delicacy of execution, and it is 
 worthy great attention." 
 
 I really felt ashamed of my ignorance on 
 the subject, and am much delighted with a 
 ring which his Lordship has presented me ; 
 and which I shall value, not more from its 
 own intrinsic merit, than from my respect 
 and affection for the donor. 
 
 AVe stopped to dine at Staines, and there 
 met your old friend, Jack Castor. He was 
 surprised and delighted to see me; enquired 
 after you, and your family ; of whom I 
 was happy to be able to give so good an 
 account. He still rides his favorite hobby 
 with as much glee as formerly; and very 
 soon informed us, that he was on his way 
 home (for he now resides near Bagshot,) from 
 attending a committee of the proprietors of 
 the new theatre. " I think," said the Marquis, 
 
312 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 ^some regulations are necessary to accommo« 
 date these public spectacles to the altera- 
 tions of the times, I mean with regard to 
 the hours of people of fashion." 
 
 " I agree with you entirely, my Lord;" 
 said Jack, "and. I think much more ought 
 to be done in order to restore the drama to 
 its former credit, and the weight it ought 
 to have in public opinion. — The stage, my 
 Lord, might be the vehicle of as much good 
 as the pulpit, but not while its exhibitions 
 are regulated by the taste of tfre vulgar, and 
 supported only by the illiterate and un- 
 informed. To counteract the ill effects of 
 .such low decision on dramatic merit, we 
 must encourage the presence of the great 
 and enlightened : we must do all we can 
 to procure their attendance; and in so 
 doing, we must for a while, perhaps, en- 
 counter a little opposition, and look on]y 
 to the ultimate good. Every human insti- 
 tution must change with the times, or soon 
 become ruinous and neglected." 
 
 "I do not see," said I, " in what way 
 
C CELEBS SUITED. 
 
 313 
 
 you propose to revive those triumphant days 
 of the drama, when lords were critics, and 
 ladies condescended to applaud." 
 
 "The greats said he, "are driven fiom 
 the theatres by the noise and vulgarity of 
 tradesmen and mechanics, who usurp their 
 seats, and annoy them with their coarseness. 
 No places are now held sacred to people of 
 fashion, nor are their hours, any more than 
 their consequence considered. To these 
 points I would direct my improvements. I 
 would oblige persons to pay for a box on 
 taking it, and it should be considered as 
 private property during the whole night, to 
 which no one should have access on 'any 
 pretence whatever, leaving it for the pro- 
 prietors to enter at what time they liked. — 
 This is the great principle that has supported 
 the respectability of the Opera-house. I 
 would too thus far fall into their hours. I 
 would alternately perform the play before 
 the farce, and the farce before the play. 
 But at present, confined as they are to 
 a certain moment of attendance, and liable 
 
514 C<XLEBS SUITED. 
 
 to the intrusion of drunken shopmen, and 
 pretended gentlemen, who are the more 
 rude that they may be the more noticed, is 
 a just subject of complaint, and must deter 
 people of fashion from visiting the theatres ; 
 the only situation in which they are liable 
 to similar inconveniencies. Resolutions to 
 this effect I have this day proposed, and 
 they lay for the confirmation of the body of 
 proprietors ; if adopted, we shall soon 
 banish from our stage the vulgar oaths, 
 obscene jests, and ridiculous interpolations 
 of our clowns, which the roar of the gallery 
 consecrates, and which are scarcely less 
 enjoyed by the company who now usurp the 
 boxes. Men of character and feeling 
 would then be gratified by the applause 
 of liberal and enlightened audiences; the 
 legitimate drama would again flourish, and 
 the stock of harmless pleasures be increased." 
 We. coincided in his opinions, and wished 
 him success i:i their adoption. His carriage 
 soon after came to the door, and he left us, 
 desiring me to make his best compliments 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 315 
 
 to you, and your lady ; a duty which I 
 hereby perform. 
 
 In our way to town, the Marquis recurred 
 to the praise of Mr. Lamb. "I wonder," said 
 he, " that the Beaufields and Lord Stantley 
 do not see the great advantage and propriety 
 of such conduct." " The effects of prejudice 
 and long continued habit," said I, "will defeat 
 the most reasonable plans, and destroy the 
 effect of the most sensible propositions." 
 " Between these families," said his Lordship, 
 " the different systems are fairly tried, without 
 lowering either by caricature, or extravagant 
 description. To follow up Lord Stantley '3 
 schemes to the extent that a more visionary 
 enthusiast would carry them, or to describe 
 them with the pen of one who wished to 
 ridicule them, we should see Lady Priscilla, 
 milking, as well as churning ; we should 
 hear of Lord Stantley bargaining for the 
 sale of his beasts at Smithfield ; and her 
 Ladyship attending the next market, with 
 butter and eggs. By the same rule, the oppo- 
 site folly might be drawn, as rendering Mr. 
 
316 CfELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Lamb ignorant of any thing but fiddling and 
 painting, neglecting for those arts, the hap- 
 piness and improvement of his family ; and 
 the young ladies singing bravuras, and 
 dancing fandagos, to the exclusion of the 
 knowledge of writing and arithmetic. It 
 would not be easy to decide between the 
 comparative advantages of these two pictures 
 of life, for persons of rank ; but between 
 the family arrangements of our two friends 
 there can be no difficulty to determine. 
 They are both virtuous, and equally atten- 
 tive to the comforts and happiness of their 
 neighbours, but they take different roads, 
 and in their family employments, they are as 
 contrary as possible. 
 
 "When our two friends are married, we 
 shall see the difference even more strongly 
 marked, for I know that Coelebs will enter 
 on the scheme of life which he has planned, 
 with great earnestness ; and I think that Sir 
 William will at firstgive into too much gaiety; 
 but in the delights and employments of a 
 family, this will soon regulate itself, while 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 317 
 
 with Coelebs the same cause will operate to 
 keep him "more at home, to contract his 
 circle, and circumscribe his ideasand actions. 
 The residence of the one will become the 
 centre of an elegant and refined society, 
 while in the family of the other, every art 
 will be exploded, and every prejudice 
 confirmed." 
 
 I could not but agree to opinions so 
 consonant to my own, and to which I 
 know you would likewise have assented. 
 
 On our arrival in Piccadilly, I found a 
 note from Colonel Urington, to say, that if 
 the opposition on Monday evening did not 
 seem formidable, he should leave London 
 on Thursday, for Ireland, and offering me 
 a seat in his carriage. — My late letters from 
 Fairland very much induce me to take 
 advantage of this offer. I hinted to the 
 Marquis his former idea of visiting you, but 
 he does not listen to it with the same at- 
 tention as formerly, and I guess that he is 
 ruminating upon far different enjoyments 
 for the summer. 
 
318 
 
 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 I will have the pleasure of writing on 
 Tuesday, when I shall determine my move- 
 ments. — Make my respects to Mrs. Rastock, 
 and believe me, , 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Geo. Rover. 
 
CCELF.BS Sl'iTFD. 319 
 
 Sir Geo. Rover, Bart, to Cha. Rastock, 
 Esq. 
 
 London. * 
 
 Dear Charles, 
 
 I have the pleasure to inform you, 
 that our bill passed the third reading last 
 night, by a great majority; the Marquis sup- 
 ported it in a clear argumentative speech, 
 and fully convinced the house of its justice 
 and propriety. I shall therefore take the 
 advantage of Colonel Urineton's return to 
 accompany him, and will accept with much 
 pleasure your offer of spending a few weeks 
 at Rastock. 
 
 The Marquis has received a letter from 
 Sir William Paston, to inform him that his 
 marriage is fixed for next' Thursdav, and 
 that Ccelebs 1 will take place in the course of 
 the following week. 
 
 I am now too much hurried to write a 
 long letter, but I must take the opportunity 
 of telling vou, that young Hancourt was 
 
3£0 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 well, in the last returns from the army; 
 and that his conduct has been much 
 praised. 
 
 Make my compliments to his father, and 
 to Mrs. Hancourt; with best remembrances 
 to all your family, believe me, &c, &c. 
 
 Yours, in great haste, 
 
 Geo. Rover* 
 
CCELEBS SUITED. 321 
 
 Sir George Rover, Bart, to the Public, 
 
 Fairland. 
 
 Sir George Rover presents his 
 respects to the Public, and in laying the 
 foretfointf letters before them takes the 
 opportunity of informing them, that shortly 
 after his arrival in Ireland he received an 
 account of the marriage of his two friends, and 
 in answer to his letters of congratulation has 
 been favored by each with a description of 
 his occupations, and the manner of spending 
 his time. Sir George thinks he need not 
 publish these letters, nor indeed has he 
 requested permission; but he refers the 
 reader to the opinion of the Marquis of 
 Heron, as given in travelling from Staines 
 to London : never was there a truer 
 prophecy. 
 
 For the Marquis, himself, he under- 
 stands that he is making rapid advances 
 in the affections of Lady Hebe, and that 
 he is at present on a visit to Ccelebs, at 
 
 v 
 
322 CCELEBS SUITED. 
 
 Phantom Farm. No doubt is entertained, 
 but that her Ladyship will soon become 
 Marchioness of Heron. He is informed 
 too, that young Wilford arrived earlier 
 than was expected, and that in consequence 
 of his spirited conduct during a time of 
 general disturbance in that part of the 
 Island where he resided, his Majesty has 
 thought proper to confer on him the 
 dignity of a baronetcy. 
 
 Sir George Rover now takes his leave; 
 should the Public call for the continuance 
 of this correspondence, he will be happy to 
 endeavour to obtain the consent of his 
 friends to its publication, but will not 
 pledge himself for his success. 
 
 JIN is. 
 
 G E. Mi Lib, Printer, 
 157, Oiford Street, St. Mary-te-boue. 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 
 days prior to due date. 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 JAN 2 7 
 
 U. C. BERKELEY 
 
 12,000(11/95) 
 
1T8 
 
 
* .-■ 
 
 3* 
 
 A 
 
 mm 
 
 & 
 
 5%^ 
 
 w^> 
 
 *>£■■ 
 
 !??> 
 
 >?mMW 
 
 &P 
 
 m 
 
 ^jrite&WJgS'-