Part 25 (1/2)
Frederick,(242) what would I give to see you Regent with a Council, and Tany that Council. You say nothing to me of Lizy or Gertrude; my love to them.
George must certainly be grown, but I do not perceive it. I perceive that he is strong and well, and I hope he will have a great deal of hunting, sans etre trop temeraire. My hearty love to Lady Caroline.
Mie Mie and I have not laid aside the thoughts of that which is so connected with our wishes and affections, but I see no immediate prospect of doing or hearing anything one likes as yet.
I was in hopes that when Lord C. came here next, you and the family would come with him. I cannot bear the thoughts of not seeing you till after Christmas. The winter will appear terrible (sic) long to me, who have so little pleasure here besides that of going in a morning to Grosvenor Place?(243)
To-day I have a bill sent me of 100 pounds 12 s.h.i.+llings 0 pence.
laid out for the poor King, who ordered me to bespeak for him the best set which I could get of the gla.s.s dishes and basons for his dessert. The Regency may perhaps not want them, thinking that they have no occasion for any dessert, and that they can do without it: perhaps so, nous verrons. Old Begum, as they call her, is more absurd, I hear, than ever.
I was sorry that I could not dine yesterday at Whitehall, but I shall not dine out of my room for some time. Wine is my destruction, with the cold that I endure after it. I shall keep myself, if I can, from any complaint that will prevent my going to Parliament. The rat-catchers are going about with their traps, but they shall not have a whisker of mine.
Lord C. sets out you say on Monday next; then I shall see him, I suppose, on Wednesday; he will not hurry up as he did down, and then I am afraid I shall hardly get access to him. Charles you know is come; I have not heard anything more of him. The papers say that Pitt and the Chan(cell)or(244) went to Windsor together in one chaise, and he and Dr. Graham(245) in another. I want to know, how he has relished Sheridan's(246) beginning a negotiation without him.
I have figured him, if it be true, saying to him, at his arrival, as Hecate does to the Witches in Macbeth, ”Saucy and (over) bold, how did you dare to trade and traffic, &c., and I, the mistress of your charms, the close contriver of all harms, was never called to bear my part,” &c. I will not (go) on to the rest of the pa.s.sage,(247) for fear of offending. I hope that I shall not have offended you by anything which I have said; if I do not, you shall hear from me as often as you please. Be only persuaded that I am most truly and devotedly yours.
(237) The question of the Regency during the King's illness.
(238) Thomas Gilbert (1720-1798); known for his reform of the poor laws.
(239) The Prince of Wales.
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(240) Duke of Queensberry, who at this juncture, though a member of the King's Household, markedly allied himself with the Prince of Wales's party.
(241) Second son of Lord Carlisle, born December 25, 1781, died January 25, 1843.
(242) Third son of Lord Carlisle, Major 10th Hussars, killed at Waterloo.
(243) Lord Carlisle's town residence'
(244) Lord Thurlow.
(245) Dr. Graham (1745-1794); a noted quack doctor. Returning from America, he claimed to have learned marvellous electrical cures from Franklin, and advertised impossible discoveries; he declared he could impart the secret of living beyond the natural span of life.
He became fas.h.i.+onable, received testimonials from many well-known persons, and occupied part of Schomberg House, Pall Mall, where Gainsborough had his studio.
(246) Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816).
(247) ”Or show the glory of our art?
And, which is worse, all you have done Hath been but for a wayward son, Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do, Loves for his own ends, not for you.”
(Act 3, scene 5.)
(1788, Dec. 4?) Thursday morning.--I begin my letter to you this morning, and at an early hour, before I can have been informed of anything, but I do so to shew you that I am impatient to obey your commands, and that I intend to write to you as often as I can pick up anything which I think will interest or amuse you; in which I shall not forget that George and Caroline are now of an age to take some parts in public affairs. What is of a more solemn and profound nature and secrecy, such as the deliberations of the Cabinet, that you will learn from those who will relate them to you with more precision and authenticity. Of these, if anything transpires to me, it must be through Jack Payne,(248) Lord Lothian,(249) or Trevis, and these are such confused and uncertain channels that there will be no dependence upon the veracity of them. Ils ne laissent pas pourtant de donner leur avis de temps en temps, et d'en parler apres, a ce que j'ai oui dire. So that de cote ou d'autre you are sure to know something, and perhaps what may not come to the knowledge of those who furnish materials for the daily papers.
The K. is undoubtedly in a state in which he may remain, and a deplorable one it is; deplorable and deplored, I believe, by every honest and feeling man in this country. But he has now a comfort which, as the poet says, none but madmen know. You, nor any belonging to you, I hope in G.o.d will ever know what it is; but he diverts himself now, as I hear, without his reason, precisely in the same manner as I have seen the children do, before they had any, and from this account you will have a just conception of his present state.
There was a meeting last night at Lord Sydney's,(250) and another at the c.o.c.kpitt, and what was said and done the public papers will, I doubt not, more fully relate than I can. I could not stir out or see anybody after Lord Carlisle, who dined with me, went away, except the Duke, who now sups every night with H.R.H. and his Brother(251) at Mrs. Fitzherbert's,(252) and is so good as to call here before he goes.
This cough which I have now has confined me to my room every since last Monday was sevennight, and has for the time been more severe than any which I have ever had. I could not be permitted to lose any blood till yesterday, which I am surprised at, and sorry for too, for I think that if I had been blooded a week ago the effect would have been more than I find it to be yet. I must keep at home.
Blisters are recommended, but as they are sometimes attended with painful complaints, so I cannot submit to them. In other respects I am perfectly well, and in spirits.