Beaux and Belles of England by Mary Robinson

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In the famous quarrel between Burke and Fox, the Duchess of Devonshire
took the office of mediator. Burke thus attacked Fox in the House
of Commons.

"Mr. Fox," he said, "has treated me with harshness and malignity. After
harassing with his light troops in the skirmishes of 'order,' he has
brought the heavy artillery of his own great abilities to bear on me.
There have," he added, "been many differences between Mr. Fox and
myself, but there has been no loss of friendship between us. There is
something in this cursed French constitution which envenoms everything."

Fox whispered, "There is no loss of friendship between us." Burke
replied, "There is. I know the price of my conduct: our friendship is
at an end."

Fox was overwhelmed with grief at these words. He rose to reply, but his
feelings deprived him of utterance. Relieved by a burst of tears, whilst
a deep silence pervaded the house, he at last spoke.

"However events," he said, in deep emotion, "may have altered the mind
of my honourable friend,--for so I must still call him,--I cannot so
easily consent to relinquish and dissolve that intimate connection which
has for twenty-five years subsisted between us. I hope that Mr. Burke
will think on past times, and whatever conduct of mine has caused the
offence, he will at least believe that I did not intend to offend." But
the quarrel was never reconciled, notwithstanding the good offices of
the Duchess of Devonshire, the friend of both parties.

Soon after the commencement of the eighteenth century, this party spirit
was, as it were, rebuked, first by the death of Pitt, and afterward by
that of Fox, who was long in a declining state. When he heard that Pitt
had expired, he said, "Pitt has died in January, perhaps I may go off in
June. I feel my constitution dissolving." When asked by a friend, during
the month of August, to make one of a party in the country at Christmas,
he declined.

"It will be a new scene," said his friend. "I shall indeed be in a new
scene by Christmas next," Mr. Fox replied. On that occasion he expressed
his belief in the immortality of the soul; "but how," he added, "it acts
as separated from the body, is beyond my capacity of judgment." Mr. Fox
took his hand and wept. "I am happy," he added, "full of confidence; I
may say of certainty."

One of his greatest desires was to be removed to St. Ann's Hill, near
Chertsey, the scene of his later, his reformed, his happier life. His
physicians hesitated, and recommended his being carried first to the
Duke of Devonshire's house at Chiswick. Here, for a time, he seemed to
recover health and spirits. Mrs. Fox, Lady Holland, his niece, and Lady
Elizabeth Foster were around his death-bed. Many times did he take leave
of those dearest to him; many times did death hover over him; yet we
find no record that the Duchess of Devonshire was amongst those who
received his last sigh. His last words to Mrs. Fox and Lord Holland
were, "God bless you, bless you, and you all! I die happy--I pity you!"

"Oh! my country!" were Pitt's last words; those of Fox were equally
characteristic. His nature was tender and sympathetic, and had he lived
in other times he would have been probably as good as he was great.

His remains were removed from Chiswick to his own apartments in St.
James's, and conveyed under a splendid canopy to Westminster Abbey. As
the gorgeous procession passed Carlton House, a band of music,
consisting of thirty, played the "Dead March in Saul." The Prince of
Wales had wished to follow his friend on foot to the grave, but such a
tribute was forbidden by etiquette.

It is to be regretted that princes must be exempted from so many of the
scenes in this sublunary life calculated to touch the heart, to chasten
and elevate the spirit. As the funeral entered the abbey, and those
solemn words, "I am the Resurrection and the Life," were chanted, the
deepest emotion affected those who had known and loved him whose pall
they bore.

Among other tributes to the memory of Fox were the following lines from
the pen of the Duchess of Devonshire. The visitor to Woburn Abbey will
find them underneath the bust of the great statesman in a temple
dedicated to Liberty by the late Duke of Bedford.

"Here, near the friends he lov'd, the man behold,
In truth unshaken, and in virtue bold,
Whose patriot zeal and uncorrupted mind
Dared to assert the freedom of mankind;
And, whilst extending desolation far,
Ambition spread the hateful flames of war
Fearless of blame, and eloquent to save,
'Twas he--'twas Fox--the warning counsel gave,
Midst jarring conflicts stemm'd the tide of blood,
And to the menac'd world a sea-mark stood!
Oh! had his voice in mercy's cause prevailed,
What grateful millions had the statesman hail'd:
Whose wisdom made the broils of nations cease,
And taught the world humanity and peace!
But, though he fail'd, succeeding ages here
The vain, yet pious efforts shall revere;
Boast in their annals his illustrious name,
Uphold his greatness, and confirm his fame."

The duchess only survived Fox a year; she died in 1806, beloved,
charitable, penitent. Her disease was an abscess of the liver, which was
detected rather suddenly, and which proved fatal some months after it
was first suspected. When the Prince of Wales heard of her death, he
remarked: "Then the best-natured and best-bred woman in England is
gone." Her remains were conveyed to the family vault of the Cavendish
family in All Saints' Church, Derby; and over that sepulchre one fond
heart, at all events, sorrowed. Her sister, Lady Duncannon, though far
inferior to the duchess in elegance both of mind and person, had the
same warm heart and strong affection for her family. During the month of
July, 1811, a short time before the death of the Duke of Devonshire (the
husband of the duchess), Sir Nathaniel Wraxall visited the vault of All
Saints' Church. As he stood admiring the coffin in which the remains of
the once lovely Georgiana lay mouldering, the woman who had accompanied
him showed him the shreds of a bouquet which lay on the coffin. Like the
mortal coil of that frame within, the bouquet was now reduced almost to
dust. "That nosegay," said the woman, "was brought here by the Countess
of Besborough, who had intended to place it herself upon the coffin of
her sister; but as she approached the steps of the vault, her agony
became too great to permit her to proceed. She knelt down on the stones
of the church, as nearly over the place where the coffin stood in the
vault below as I could direct, and there deposited the flowers,
enjoining me to perform an office to which she was unequal. I fulfilled
her wishes."

By others the poor duchess was not so faithfully remembered. Her friend
Lady Elizabeth Foster had long since become her rival, yet one common
secret, it was believed, kept them from a rupture. Both had, it was
understood, much to conceal. The story of the late Duke of Devonshire's
supposed birth has been referred to: he is supposed to have been the son
of the duke, but not of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, but of her who
afterward bore that title, Lady Elizabeth Foster. The inflexible
determination of the late duke to remain single, according, it is said,
to an agreement between him and his uncle, then Lord George Cavendish,
always seemed to imply, in a man of such pure and domestic tastes, so
affectionate a disposition, and so princely a fortune, some dire
impediment.

In 1824, Lady Elizabeth Foster, then the second Duchess of Devonshire,
expired at Rome, where she had lived many years in almost regal
splendour. Amongst her most intimate friends were the Cardinal Consalvi
and Madame Récamier, who were cognisant of the report, which was
confirmed in their minds by the late duke's conduct at her death. Lady
Elizabeth, as we shall still by way of distinction call her, was then so
emaciated as to resemble a living spectre; but the lines of a rare and
commanding beauty still remained. Her features were regular and noble,
her eyes magnificent, and her attenuated figure was upright and
dignified, with the step of an empress. Her complexion of marble
paleness completed this portrait. Her beautiful arms and hands were
still as white as ivory, though almost like a skeleton's from their
thinness. She used in vain to attempt to disguise their emaciation by
wearing bracelets and rings. Though surrounded by every object of art in
which she delighted, by the society, both of the English, Italian, and
French persons of distinction whom she preferred, there was a shade of
sadness on this fascinating woman's brow, as if remembrance forbade her
usual calm of life's decline.

Her stepson (so reported), the late duke, treated her with respect and
even affection, but there was an evident reserve between them. At her
death he carefully excluded all friends to whom she could in her last
moments confide what might perhaps, at that hour, trouble her
conscience. Her friends, Madame Récamier and the Duc de Laval, were only
admitted to bid her farewell when she was speechless, and a few minutes
before she breathed her last.

This circumstance struck them forcibly as confirmatory of the report
alluded to; but it must in candour be stated that the duke's precautions
may have originated in another source. His step-mother was disposed to
Romanism, and he may have feared that the zeal of her Catholic friends
should prompt them, if opportunity occurred, to speak to her on the
subject of her faith, and to suggest the adoption of such consolations
as their own notions would have thought indispensable at that awful
moment. The point is one that cannot be settled. It may, however, be
remarked, that in disposition, in his wide benevolence and courteous
manners, the late duke greatly resembled the subject of this
memoir,--the beautiful, the gifted, but the worldly Georgiana, Duchess
of Devonshire.

THE END.

ENDNOTES.

Note 1: Collins's "Peerage" gives the following account of this lady:
"Peter, Lord King, married Anne, daughter of Richard Seys, Esq., of
Boverton, in Glamorganshire, with whom he lived to the day of his death
in perfect love and happiness, and left by her four sons and two
daughters."

Note 2: A portrait of my grandmother, when a girl, was seen by my mother
at Hawell, in Somersetshire, the seat of Sir C. K. Tynt, many years after
I was born.

Note 3: I may with truth, and without vanity, make this remark. The
estimable being here mentioned was named John; he died on the 7th of
December, 1790, at Leghorn, in Tuscany, where he had been many years
established as a merchant of the first respectability.

Note 4: Hannah More, with her sisters, at this time kept a boarding-
school for young ladies. Later she became famous as the author of
tragedies which gained popularity--Ed.

Note 5: Mr. Powel.

Note 6: Thomas Hull, deputy manager of Covent Garden Theatre, was founder
of the Theatrical Fund for the relief of distressed players. He was an
actor, the author and translator of several plays, and a writer of poems
and short stories.--Ed.

Note 7: David Garrick, the famous actor and manager of Drury Lane Theatre,
made his last appearance on the stage on the 10th of June, 1776, he
being then in his sixtieth year.--Ed.

Note 8: Arthur Murphy, an Irishman, began life as a clerk, then became a
journalist, and subsequently an actor, but remaining on the stage only
for a couple of seasons, he turned dramatist and wrote a number of
plays, some of which attained great success. Two years after the death
of David Garrick he wrote a life of the famous player, who had been his
intimate friend.--Ed.

Note 9: Susannah Cibber, who gained considerable fame as a singer in
oratorio before becoming an actress. Her first success as a player was
gained at Covent Garden, but in 1753 she joined Garrick's company at Drury
Lane, of which she remained a member until her death in 1766. Garrick, who
greatly admired her genius, on hearing of her demise, declared, "Then
tragedy is dead on one side." She lies buried in Westminster Abbey.

Note 10: At the time when the banns of her marriage were published she
admits to being "a few months advanced in her sixteenth year;" and she had
been four months married when the journey to Bristol was made.--Ed.

Note 11: Mrs. Sophia Baddeley, who was a very beautiful woman, and the
heroine of many amorous adventures.--Ed.

Note 12: Robert Henley, who, in 1772, succeeded his father as second Earl
of Northington. Previous to this date he had been made an LL. D. of
Cambridge, and had held the offices of teller of the exchequer, and
master of the Hamper Office in Chancery. The year after his succession
he was made Knight of the Thistle, and in 1783 was appointed Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland.--Ed.

Note 13: Thomas, second Baron Lyttelton, known as "the wicked Lord
Lyttelton," in distinction to his father, who in his lifetime had been
styled "the good Lord Lyttelton." Thomas, Baron Lyttelton, was a man of
parts and fashion; a politician, a writer of verses, an artist whose
paintings were supposed to contain the combined excellencies of Salvator
Rosa and Claude, and withal one of the greatest profligates of the age.
This is the Lord Lyttelton who, in his thirty-fifth year, and whilst in
perfect health, dreamt a woman appeared to him and announced he had not
three days to live. He spoke lightly of his dream, and on the morning of
the third day felt in such good spirits that he declared he should "bilk
the ghost." He died suddenly that night, when his friend Miles Peter
Andrews dreamt Lyttelton appeared to him and said, "All is over."

George Edward Ayscough, a captain in the Guards, was cousin to the
second Lord Lyttelton. Some years Later than the date of his meeting
with Mrs. Robinson he produced a version of Voltaire's "Semiramis,"
which was presented at Drury Lane Theatre in 1776. He is described as "a
parasite of Lord Lyttelton," and as "a fool of fashion."--Ed.

Note 14: Anna Laetitia Aikin (1743-1825).--Ed.

Note 15: George Robert Fitzgerald, commonly known as "Fighting
Fitzgerald," from the number of duels in which he took part, was a man of
good family, noted alike for his gallantry and recklessness. A fracas
which was the result of his distasteful attentions to Mrs. Hartley, a
well-known actress, had made him notorious in 1773, some years previous
to his introduction to Mrs. Robinson. His life, which was one of
singular adventure, ended on the scaffold, he being executed for murder
in 1786.--Ed.

Note 16: Mrs. Abington, a distinguished actress who, at the age of
seventeen, had made her first appearance at the Haymarket Theatre, some
six years before the author of these memoirs was born.

Note 17: Later she gave birth to a daughter, named Sophia, who lived but
six weeks.--Ed.

Note 18: Mr. Robinson was educated at Harrow, and was a contemporary of
Mr. Sheridan.

Note 19: This gentleman's name is Hanway, the person mentioned in the
former part of this work as Mr. Robinson's earliest friend.

Note 20: Writing of this time, Miss Hawkins states that Mrs. Robinson was
"eminently meritorious: she had her child to attend to, she did all the
work of their apartments, she even scoured the stairs, and accepted the
writing and the pay which he had refused."--Ed.

Note 21: Georgiana, wife of the fifth Duke of Devonshire. The duchess was
not only one of the most beautiful, vivacious, and fascinating women of
the day, but was likewise an ardent politician. Whilst canvassing for the
election of Fox, she purchased the vote of a butcher for a kiss, and
received from an Irish mechanic the complimentary assurance that he
could light his pipe at her eyes.--Ed.

Note 22: George Hobart, third Earl of Buckinghamshire, who had a passion
for dramatic entertainments, and for a time became manager of the opera in
London.--Ed.

Note 23: Richard Brinsley Sheridan was at this period in his twenty-fifth
year, and had entered on his mismanagement of Drury Lane Theatre. He had
already written "The Rivals," which had not proved a success on its
first appearance; "St. Patrick's Day, or the Scheming Lieutenant," a
farce; "The Duenna," a comic opera; but he was yet to write "A Trip to
Scarborough," and "The School for Scandal."

Note 24: In his "History of the Stage," Genest tells us Mrs. Robinson made
her first appearance on the stage as Juliet, on the 10th of December,
1776, but leaves us in ignorance regarding the actors who took part in
the tragedy. Romeo was evidently played by William Brereton, who had
rehearsed the principal scenes with her in the greenroom before Sheridan
and Garrick. Genest adds: "Mrs. Robinson was received with great
applause. She had an engagement previous to her first appearance, and
received what was considered a handsome salary. She was a most beautiful
woman, and a very good breeches figure."--Ed.

Note 25: According to Genest, the second character she attempted was
Statira, in "Alexander the Great," played on the 17th of February, 1777;
Amanda, in "The Trip to Scarborough," produced seven nights later, being
her third personation.--Ed.

Note 26: Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and afterward King of
Hanover, was the fifth son of George III, and perhaps the most profligate
and unpopular member of the royal family.--Ed.

Note 27: Horace Walpole, writing to his friend, the Rev. William Mason, on
the 28th of May, 1780, says: "Lady Craven's comedy, called 'The
Miniature Picture,' which she acted herself with a genteel set at her
own house in the country, has been played at Drury Lane. The chief
singularity was that she went to it herself, the second night, in form;
sat in the middle of the front row of the stage box, much dressed, with
a profusion of white bugles and plumes, to receive the public homage due
to her sex and loveliness.... It was amazing to see so young a woman
entirely possess herself; but there is such an integrity and frankness
in her consciousness of her own beauty and talents, that she speaks of
them with a _naïveté_ as if she had no property in them, but only wore
them as gifts of the gods. Lord Craven, on the contrary, was quite
agitated by his fondness for her, and with impatience at the bad
performance of the actors, which was wretched indeed. Yet the address of
the plot, which is the chief merit of the piece, and some lively
pencilling, carried it off very well, though Parsons murdered the Scotch
Lord, and Mrs. Robinson (who is supposed to be the favourite of the
Prince of Wales) thought on nothing but her own charms and him."

"The Irish Widow" was a farce founded by David Garrick on Molière's "Le
Mariage Forcé," and produced on the 23d of October, 1772.--Ed.

Note 28: Thomas Linley, who was considered "one of the finest violin
players in Europe," was drowned through the upsetting of a boat on the
5th of August, 1778. He was a brother-in-law of Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
--Ed.

Note 29: George Colman, a popular and prolific dramatist, who in 1777
became manager of the Haymarket Theatre, and continued as such until 1785,
introducing meanwhile many new players and some dramatic novelties.--Ed.

Note 30: Elizabeth Farren, born 1759, made her first appearance before a
London audience as Miss Hardcastle, in "She Stoops to Conquer," on June
9, 1777. After years spent in strolling through the provinces in her
father's company and that of other managers, she now captivated the
town. Her beautiful face, exquisitely modulated voice, elegant figure,
and natural grace, rendered her an ideal representative of the fine
ladies of comedy. She was welcomed into the most distinguished society
in London, and whilst acting as manageress of private theatricals at the
Duke of Richmond's house in Whitehall, met Edward, twelfth Earl of
Derby, whose wife was then living. This did not prevent him from falling
in love with Miss Farren, who, it was understood, would succeed his
first wife as countess did the latter predecease the actress. Lady Derby
died on March 14, 1797 and on the 8th of the following month Miss Farren
took leave of the stage in the character of Lady Teazle, and on the 1st
of May was married to Lord Derby, she being then in her thirty-eighth
year. Even in this scandal-loving and licentious age no imputation had
ever been cast upon her honour. Of the three children born of this
union, but one survived, a daughter, who marred the Earl of Wilton. The
Countess of Derby lived until 1829.--Ed.

Note 31: Mrs. Robinson played Lady Macbeth on the occasion of her benefit,
when was also performed a musical farce she had composed entitled, "A
Lucky Escape."--Ed.

Note 32: The famous politician, Charles James Fox, a friend of the Prince
of Wales.--Ed.

Note 33: George III. and Queen Charlotte, who frequently attended the
theatre.--Ed.

Note 34: This performance of "The Winter's Tale" took place on December 3,
1779, she being at that time in her twenty-second year, and the Prince
of Wales in his eighteenth year.--Ed.

Note 35: Smith had been educated at Eton and St. John's College,
Cambridge, with a view to becoming a clergyman, but eventually went on the
stage and proved himself an excellent actor, whose representation of
Charles Surface was considered a finished performance.--Ed.

Note 36: George Chapel Coningsby, Viscount Malden, afterward fifth Earl of
Essex, born November 13, 1757. He married twice, his second wife being
Miss Stephens, the famous singer.--Ed.

Note 37: Those who have read "The Winter's Tale" will know the
significance of these adopted names.

Note 38: The writer evidently makes a mistake in fixing the Oratorio for
the next night, as will be seen from the note on the next page.--Ed.

Note 39: Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany, second son of George
III., who at the age of six months was elected to the valuable bishopric
of Osnaburg.--Ed.

Note 40: Another of the "diurnal prints," dated February 12, 1780, is not
so complimentary in its remarks, which run as follows: "A circumstance of
rather an embarrassing nature happened at last night's Oratorio. Mrs.
R----, decked out in all her finery, took care to post herself in one of
the upper boxes immediately opposite the prince's, and by those airs
peculiar to herself, contrived at last so to _basilisk_ a certain
heir-apparent, that his fixed attention to the beautiful object became
generally noticed, and soon after astonished their Majesties, who, not
being able to discover the cause, seemed at a loss to account for the
extraordinary effect. No sooner, however, were they properly informed
than a messenger was instantly sent aloft desiring the dart-dealing
actress to withdraw, which she complied with, though not without
expressing the utmost chagrin at her mortifying removal."--Ed.

Note 41: At this time the Prince of Wales and his brother Frederick
Augustus, Duke of York, were living in seclusion at Boner Lodge, Kew,
where their education was being conducted by Doctor Hurd, Bishop of
Lichfield, Mr. Arnold, and Lord Bruce. A strict discipline was exercised
over the princes at this period. It was not until January 1, 1781, that
the Prince of Wales was provided with a separate establishment, a part of
Buckingham House being allotted to him for that purpose.--Ed.

Note 42: Now Margravine of Anspach.

Note 43: The most affecting tribute which the memory of a gallant father
could receive was the following pathetic and heartfelt effusion of
genuine and grateful duty:

TO THE MEMORY OF MY LAMENTED FATHER,
WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA,
DECEMBER 5, 1786.

Oh, sire, rever'd! ador'd!
Was it the ruthless tongue of DEATH
That whisp'ring to my pensive ear,
Pronounc'd the fatal word
That bath'd my cheek with many a tear,
And stopp'd awhile my gasping breath?
"He lives no more!
Far on a foreign shore,
His honour'd dust a laurell'd grave receives,
While his immortal soul in realms celestial lives!"

Oh! my lov'd sire, farewell!
Though we are doom'd on earth to meet no more,
Still memory lives, and still I must adore!
And long this throbbing heart shall mourn,
Though thou to these sad eyes wilt ne'er return!
Yet shall remembrance dwell
On all thy sorrows through life's stormy sea,
When fate's resistless whirlwinds shed
Unnumber'd tempests round thy head,
The varying ills of human destiny!

Yet, with a soul sublimely brave,
Didst thou endure the dashing wave;
Still buffeting the billows rude,
By all the shafts of woe, undaunted, unsubdued!
Through a long life of rugged care,
'Twas thine to steer a steady course!
'Twas thine misfortune's frowns to bear,
And stem the wayward torrent's force!
And as thy persevering mind
The toilsome path of fame pursued,
'Twas thine, amidst its flow'rs to find
The wily snake--Ingratitude!
Yet vainly did th' insidious reptile strive
On thee its poisons dire to fling;
Above its reach, thy laurel still shall thrive,
Unconscious of the treach'rous sting!

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