Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 1 (of 2)

Lord George Sackville, son of Lionel, Duke of Dorset, assumed, in 1770, the name of Germain on succeeding to the Northamptonshire estates of his aunt, Lady Betty Germain (died December 16, 1769), second wife of Sir John Germain, Bart., whose first wife, Lady Mary Mordaunt, brought him the property. Lord George was dismissed from the army for his conduct at the battle of Minden (August 1, 1759). He was at this time M.P. for East Grinstead. He became Secretary of State for the Colonies in Lord North's administration, was created Lord Sackville in 1782, and died in 1785.

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The Hon. Stephen Fox, eldest son of Lord Holland, succeeded his father, July, 1774. He died December 26, 1774.

Footnote_207_207

Miss Fuller.

Footnote_208_208

The School of Wives, a comedy by Hugh Kelly (1739-1777), was produced at Drury Lane on December 11, 1773. Walpole speaks of it as "exceedingly applauded," though "Charles Fox says" it "is execrable."

Footnote_209_209

Thomas, Lord Pelham of Stanmer (afterwards first Earl of Chichester), was at this time surveyor-general of the Customs of London. He married Miss Anne Frankland, granddaughter of Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.

Footnote_210_210

"The Noblemen and Gentlemen's Catch Club" was founded in 1761, to encourage the composition and performance of catches and glees. Members were elected by ballot. It met every Tuesday from February to June at the Thatched House Tavern. The club still flourishes. Gibbon speaks as if he were a member; but his name does not occur in the lists of the club.

Footnote_211_211

By the death of Sir R. Ladbroke a vacancy occurred in the representation of the City. The candidates were the Lord Mayor (Bull) and Roberts. The result of the poll, by which the Lord Mayor was elected, was declared on December 4, 1773. A scrutiny was demanded on behalf of Roberts, but it was abandoned.

Footnote_212_212

James Hare, the politician and wit ("the Hare and many friends"), was M.P. (1772-74) for Stockbridge, and (1781-1804) for Knaresborough. He married (January 21, 1774) Miss Hannah Hume, sister of Sir Abraham Hume, Bart., F.R.S., the famous collector of minerals and pictures, and one of the founders of the Geological Society.

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Godfrey Clarke, M.P. for Derbyshire.

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The British Coffee-house, in Cockspur Street, was a favourite resort of Scotchmen. The Duke of Bedford, soliciting the votes of the sixteen Scottish peers in 1750, is said to have enclosed all the letters under one cover, and addressed it to the British Coffee-house.

Footnote_215_215

Garrick and Colman were managers of the two rival theatres, Covent Garden and Drury Lane.

Footnote_216_216

George Colman (1732-1794) was at this time a formidable rival to Garrick. His five-act comedy, The Man of Business, was produced at Covent Garden in January, 1774. It is, as Gibbon describes it, made up from Terence and other writers; "so full of modern lore," writes H. Walpole, "of rencounters, and I know not what, that I scarce comprehended a syllable."

Footnote_217_217

Goldsmith (1728-1774), whose play, She Stoops to Conquer, had been produced at Covent Garden under Colman's management (January, 1773), died April 4, 1774, scarcely more than two months after this dinner. Gibbon signed the Round Robin, drawn up at Sir Joshua Reynolds's by Burke, asking Dr. Johnson to write Goldsmith's epitaph in English instead of Latin.

Footnote_218_218

Probably James Macpherson (1736-1796), whose Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands were published in 1760. At this time he was settled in London, where he was engaged in historical literature, a translation of the Iliad, and political writing on behalf of the Government.

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John Home (1722-1808), the author of Douglas (1756), had helped to bring Macpherson's Ossianic poems before the public. His Douglas was played at Covent Garden (1757); his Agis (1758) and Siege of Aquileia (1760) were given at Drury Lane.

Footnote_220_220

Gibbon refers not to the essay on National Characters, but to that on Polygamy and Divorces. Hume quotes a story from Madame d'Aunoy's Mémoires de la Cour d'Espagne. "When the mother of the late King of Spain was on her road towards Madrid, she passed through a little town in Spain famous for its manufactory of gloves and stockings. The magistrates of the place thought they could not better express their joy for the reception of their new queen, than by presenting her with a sample of those commodities for which alone their town was remarkable. The major domo, who conducted the princess, received the gloves very graciously; but, when the stockings were presented, he flung them away with great indignation, and severely reprimanded the magistrates for this egregious piece of indecency. Know, says he, that a queen of Spain has no legs. The young queen, who at that time understood the language but imperfectly, and had often been frightened with stories of Spanish jealousy, imagined that they were to cut off her legs. Upon which she fell a-crying, and begged them to conduct her back to Germany, for that she could never endure the operation; and it was with some difficulty they could appease her" (Hume's Philosophical Works, ed. 1854, vol. iii. p. 205).

Footnote_221_221

Probably a reference to Lancelot Brown (1715-1783), the landscape gardener, known as "Capability Brown."

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William Parsons (1746-1817) was appointed Master of the King's Band of Music in 1786, was knighted in 1795, became instructor in music to the princesses in 1796, and acted as a stipendiary police magistrate at Great Marlborough Street.

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Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) was organist at Milan Cathedral, 1754-59. He married an Italian prima donna, and came to London, where he held the appointment of Director of Public Concerts.

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The Rev. Dr. Dive Downes.

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Two recent events had brought American affairs into prominence. The news of the attack upon the tea-ships in Boston Harbour (December 16, 1773) had just reached England, and the Privy Council had voted the Petition of the House of Assembly of Massachusetts for the recall of Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant-Governor Oliver to be "groundless, vexatious, and scandalous."

Footnote_226_226

The Boston Port Bill was brought in by Lord North on March 14, 1774, and received the royal assent on the 31st. It was followed on March 28 by the Bill for regulating the government of Massachusetts Bay. A third Bill was introduced (April 15) for "the impartial administration of justice;" it provided for the transfer of persons accused of being concerned in the late riots for trial in England. All three Bills were passed during the session. Governor Hutchinson was superseded by General Gage, who was sent out with four regiments.

Footnote_227_227

Mrs. Horneck, wife of Captain Charles Horneck, Goldsmith's "Captain-in-Lace" ("Verses in Reply to an Invitation to Dinner at Dr. Baker's: " Works, ed. Cunningham, vol. i. p. 110), was one of the most abandoned women of the time. She eloped with her husband's brother-officer, Captain Scawen, who had in the previous year fought a celebrated duel with "Fighting Fitzgerald."

Footnote_228_228

In 1773, the East India Company at Madras and the Nabob of the Carnatic were allies: the Rajah of Tanjore, though nominally an ally, was known to be in correspondence with Hyder Ali and the Mahrattas. The Company agreed for a sum of money to reduce the Rajah and transfer his dominions to the Nabob. The bargain was fulfilled, and the news, transmitted to the Board of Directors, reached London, March 26, 1774. In October, 1773, Sujah Dowlah, Nawab of Oude, offered Warren Hastings a large sum of money if the Company would conquer and transfer to him the Rohilla country, north of his dominions and east of the Ganges. At the same time the provinces of Corah and Allahabad were sold to Sujah Dowlah by the Company.

Footnote_229_229

Captain David Roche sailed with his wife on board the Vansittart, East Indiaman, in May, 1773, in order to take up an appointment in the Company's service at Bombay. On the voyage he quarrelled with Lieutenant James Ferguson, whom he killed at the Cape in September, 1773. It was alleged that Roche had treacherously assassinated his antagonist; but, on his trial at Cape Town, it was proved that Ferguson was the assailant, and that Roche had killed him in self-defence. Strong feeling was aroused about the affair, because Roche was wrongly identified with a notorious duellist of the day. The governor of the Cape obtained a passage for Roche in a French frigate to Mauritius, whence he reached Bombay. On arrival there, he was arrested and sent home to England. Examined before the Privy Council on July 10, 1775, he was committed to Newgate. A special commission was issued (August 5) to try him, and at the Old Bailey, on December 11, 1775, he was again acquitted of the charge of murder. (See A Plain and Circumstantial Account of the Transactions between Captain Roche and Lieut. Ferguson, etc. London, 1775.)

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