The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford Volume I Part 86

(1350) Lord Charles Scott, second son of Francis, Duke of Buccleuch . He died at Oxford during the year 1747.-D.

(1351) An innkeeper in Piccadilly, who had been beaten by them, gave information against them for treasonable practices, and a committee of the House of Commons, headed by Sir W.

Yonge and Lord c.o.ke, was appointed to inquire into the matter.

[The informant's name was Williams, keeper of the White Horse in Piccadilly. Being observed, at the anniversary dinner of the independent electors of Westminster, to make memorandums with a pencil, he was severely cuffed, and kicked out of the company. The alleged treasonable practices consisted in certain Offensive toasts. On the King's health being drunk, every man held a gla.s.s of water in his left hand, and waved a gla.s.s of wine over it with the right.]

(1352) George Grenville, afterwards prime minister.-D.

(1353) Lady Charlotte Fermor, second daughter of Thomas, Earl of Pomfret, and second wife of William Finch, vice-chamberlain to the King; formerly amba.s.sador in Holland, and brother of Daniel, Earl of Winchilsea.

(1354) Sally Salisbury, alias Pridden, a woman of the town, stabbed the Hon. John Finch, in a bagnio, in the neighbourhood of Covent-garden; but he did not die of the wound.-D.

(1355) Elizabeth Younger. Her daughter, by the Hon. John Finch, married John Mason, Esq. of Greenwich.-D.

(1356) Lady Isabella Finch, lady of the bedchamber to the Princesses Emily and Caroline.

(1357) Lady mary Finch, fifth daughter of Daniel, sixth Earl of Winchilsea; married in 1716 to the Hon. Thomas Wentworth, afterwards created Marquis of Rockingham.-E.

525 Letter 232 To The Hon. H. S. Conway.

Arlington Street, April 16, 1747.

Dear Harry, We are all skyrockets and bonfires tonight for your last year's victory;(1359) but if you have a mind to perpetuate yourselves in the calendar, you must take care to refresh your conquests. I was yesterday out of town, and the very signs as I pa.s.sed through the villages made me make very quaint reflections on the mortality of fame and popularity. I observed how the Duke's head had succeeded almost universally to Admiral Vernon's, as his had left but few traces of the Duke of Ormond's. I pondered these things in my heart, and said unto myself, Surely all glory is but as a sign!

You have heard that old lovat's tragedy is over: it has been succeeded by a little farce, containing the humours of the Duke of Newcastle and his man Stone. The first event was a squabble between his grace and the Sheriff about holding up the head on the scaffold--a custom that has been disused, and which the Sheriff would not comply with, as he received no order in writing. Since that, the Duke has burst ten yards of breeches strings(1360) about the body, which was to be sent into Scotland; but it seems it is customary for vast numbers to rise to attend the most trivial burial. The Duke, who is always at least as much frightened at doing right as at doing wrong, was three days before he got courage enough to order the burying in the Tower. I must tell you an excessive good story of George Selwyn -. Some women were scolding him for going to see the execution, and asked him, how he could be such a barbarian to see the head cut off? "Nay," says he, "if that was such a crime, I am sure I have made amends, for I went to see it sewed on again." When he was at the undertaker's, as soon as they had st.i.tched him together, and were going to put the body into the coffin, George, in my Lord Chancellor's voice, said "My Lord lovat, your lordship may rise." My Lady Townshend has picked up a little stable-boy in the Tower, which the warders have put upon her for a natural son of Lord Kilmarnock's, and taken him into her own house.

You need not tell Mr. T. this from me.

We have had a great and fine day in the House on the second reading the bill for taking away the heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland. Lyttelton made the finest oration imaginable; the Solicitor General, the new Advocate,(1361) and Hume Campbell, particularly the last. spoke excessively well for it, and Oswald against it. The majority was 233 against 102.

Pitt was not there; the d.u.c.h.ess of Queensberry had ordered him to have the gout.

I will give you a commission once more, to tell Lord Bury(1362) that he has quite dropped me: if I thought he would take me up again, I would write to him; a message would encourage me. Adieu!

(1359) The battle of Culloden.

(1360) Alluding to a trick of the Duke of Newcastle's.

(1361) William Grant, Lord Advocate of Scotland.

(1362) George Keppel, eldest son of William, Earl of Albemarle, whom he succeeded in the t.i.tle in 1755. He was now, together with Mr. Conway, aide-de-camp to the Duke of c.u.mberland.

526 Letter 233 To Sir Horace Mann.

Arlington Street, May 5, 1747.

It is impossible for me to tell you more of the new Stadtholder(1363) than you must have heard from all quarters.

Hitherto his existence has been of no service to his country.

Hulst, which we had heard was relieved, has surrendered. The Duke was in it privately, just before it was taken, with only two aide-de-camps, and has found means to withdraw our three regiments. We begin to own now that the French are superior: I never believed they were not, or that we had taken the field before them; for the moment we had taken it, we heard of Marshal Saxe having detached fifteen thousand men to form sieges. There is a print published in Holland of the Devil weighing the Count de Saxe and Count lowendahl in a pair of scales, with this inscription:

Tous deux vaillants, Tous deux galants, Tous deux constants,

Tous deux galiards, Tous deux paliards, Tous deux b'atards,(1364)

Tous deux sans foi.

Tous deux sans loi.

Tous deux 'a moi.

We are taken up with the Scotch bills for weakening clanships and taking away heritable Jurisdictions. I have left them sitting on it to-day, but was pleased with a period of Nugent.

"These jurisdictions are grievous, but n.o.body complains of them; therefore, what? therefore, they are excessively grievous." We had a good-natured bill moved to-day by Sir William Yonge, to allow council to prisoners on impeachments for treason, as they have on indictments. It hurt every body at old Lovat's trial, all guilty as he was, to see an old wretch worried by the first lawyers in England, without any a.s.sistance but his own unpractised defence. It had not the least opposition; yet this was a point struggled for in King William's reign, as a privilege and dignity inherent in the Commons, that the accused by them should have no a.s.sistance of council. how reasonable, that men, chosen by their fellow-subjects for the defence of their fellow-subjects, should have rights detrimental to the good of the people whom they are to protect! Thank G.o.d! we are a better-natured age, and have relinquished this savage privilege with a good grace!

Lord Cowper(1365) has resigned the bedchamber, on the Beef-eaters being given to Lord Falmouth. The latter, who is powerful in elections, insisted on having it: the other had nothing but a promise from the King, which the ministry had already twice forced him to break.

Mr. Fox gave a great ball last week at Holland House. which he has taken for a long term, and where he is making great improvements. It is a brave old house, and belonged to the gallant Earl of Holland, the lover of Charles the First's Queen. His motto has puzzled every body; it is Ditior est qui se. I was allowed to hit off an interpretation, which yet one can hardly reconcile to his gallantry, nor can I decently repeat it to you. While I am writing, the Prince is going over the way to Lord Middles.e.x's, where there is a ball in mask to-night for the royal children.

The two Lords have seen and refused Marquis Riccardi's gems: I shall deliver them to Pucci; but am so simple (you will laugh at me) as to keep the four I liked: that is, I will submit to give him fifty pounds for them, if he will let me choose one ring more; for I will at least have it to call them at ten guineas apiece. If he consents, I will remit the money to you, or pay it to Pucei, as he likes. If not, I return them with the rest of the car,,o. I can choose no ring for which I would give five guineas.

I have received yours of April 25th, since I came home. You will scold me for being so careless about the Pretender's son; but I am determined not to take up his idea again, till he is at least on this side Derby. Do excuse me; but when he could not get to London, with all the advantages which the ministry had smoothed for him, how can he ever meet more concurring circ.u.mstances? If my lady'S(1366) return has no better foundation than Niccolini's authority, I a.s.sure you you may believe as little of it as you please. If he knows no more of her, than he does of every thing else that he pretends to know, as I am persuaded he does not, knowledge cannot possibly be thinner spread. He has been a progress to add more matter to the ma.s.s, that he already don't understand. Adieu!

(1363) The Prince of Orange had just been raised to that dignity in a tumultuary manner.

(1364) The Count de Saxe was a natural son of Augustus the Second, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and of the Countess Konigsmark. The Count de LOWendahl was not a "b'atard" himself; but his father, Woldemar, Baron of Lowendahl, was the son of the Count of Gildoniew, who was the natural son of Frederick the Third, King of Denmark.-D.

(1365) William, second Earl Cowper, son of the Chancellor. He died in 1764.-D.

(1366) Lady Orford.-D.

527 Letter 234 To Sir Horace Mann.

Arlington Street, May 19th, 1747,

As you will receive the Gazette at the same time with this letter, I shall leave you to that for the particulars of the great naval victory that Anson has gained over the French off Cape Finisterre.(1367) It is a very big event, and by far one of the most considerable that has happened during this war.

By it he has defeated two expeditions at once; for the fleet he has demolished was to have split, part for the recovery of Cape Breton, part for the East Indies. He has always been most remarkably fortunate: Captain Granville, the youngest of the brothers, was as unlucky: he was killed by the cannon that was fired as a signal for their striking.(1368) He is extremely commended: I am not partial to the family; but it is but justice to mention, that when he took a great prize some time ago, after a thousand actions of generosity to his officers and crew, he cleared sixteen thousand pounds, of which he gave his sister ten. The King is in great spirits.

The French fought exceedingly well.

I have no other event to tell you, but the promotion of a new brother of yours. I condole with you, for they have literally sent one Dayrolies(1369) resident to Holland, under Lord Sandwich,

--Minum partes tractare secundas.

This curious minister has always been a led-captain to the Dukes of Grafton and Richmond; used to be sent to auctions for them, and to walk in the Park with their daughters, and once went dry nurse to Holland with them. He has belonged, too, a good deal to my Lord Chesterfield, to whom, I believe, he owes this new honour; as he had before made him black-rod in Ireland, and gave the ingenious reason, that he had a black face. I believe he has made him a minister, as one year, at Tunbridge, he had a mind to make a wit of Jacky Barnard, and had the impertinent vanity to imagine that his authority was sufficient.

Your brother has gone over the way with Mr. Whithed, to choose some of Lord Cholmondeley's pictures for his debt; they are all given up to the creditors, who yet scarce receive forty per cent. of their money.

It is wrong to send so short a letter as this so far, I know; but what can one do? After the first fine shower, I will send you a much longer. Adieu!

(1367) Upon this occasion Admiral Anson took six French men-of war and four of their East Indiamen, and sunk or destroyed the rest of their fleet.-D.

(1368) Thomas Grenville, youngest brother of Richard, Earl Temple. As soon as he was struck by the cannon-ball, he exclaimed, gallantly, "well! it is better to die thus, than to be tried by a court-martial!" [His uncle Lord Cobham, erected a column to his memory in the gardens at Stowe.]