person, accompanied with great elegance of deportment, might be said to consist the foundations of his elevation. But even these qualities or endowments, which effected his marriage with a daughter of the Duke of Ancaster, would not have advanced him beyond the rank of a commoner, if an event the most improbable, namely, the death of his brother-in-law, the young Duke, though cast by Nature in an athletic mould, had not rendered his wife a peeress in her own right; vesting in her, at the same time, one of the greatest hereditary offices of the English monarchy. As little did his three sisters owe their elevation to extraordinary beauty, such as triumphed over all competition, and surmounted every obstacle, in the instance of the Gunnings. Never were any women, in fact, less endowed with uncommon attractions of external form than the three sisters just enumerated. Modest, amiable, virtuous, they were destitute of those fascinating graces which the fugitive of Philippi attempts to describe in their effects, when he asks Lycé, "I will conclude this digression on the Burrells by adding one fact more, scarcely less remarkable than those already commemorated; namely, that the charms which Nature had so sparingly bestowed on the three younger sisters, who married some for: Cd: IP. 13, 18 of the greatest noblemen in Britain, were lavished on the eldest, who gave her hand to Mr. Bennet, a private gentleman. I have rarely seen, and scarcely ever known, a more captivating woman in every point of female attraction." The present Earl of Beverley and the Duke of Northumberland are respectively the sons of the second and third daughters of Mr. Burrell. The fourth daughter, Elizabeth, had no children either by her first husband, the Duke of Hamilton (which marriage was dissolved by the Scotch Commissary Court in 1794), or by her second husband, Lord Exeter.] THE EARL OF CARLISLE TO GEORGE SELWYN. MY DEAR GEORGE, London, May 21st, 1779. I BELIEVE I have had all your letters, for mine have been all answered. Hare told me he would write by Tuesday's post; so, having nothing particular to communicate, I postponed my letter. The Duke of Rutland is said to be dying. I do not know what chance your friend J. Townshend stands at Cambridge; * but, if he depends upon his * By the death of the Duke of Rutland, on the 29th of this month, his grandson, the Marquis of Granby, was raised to the House of Peers, which occasioned a vacancy in the representation of the University of Cambridge. impudence, he depends upon that which will not fail him. I am going to meet Sir James Wallace at dinner to-day, and will ask him if he has any more commands for his friends the French, that I may insert them in my letter to you. J. St. John* grows every day more dull and more rosecoloured; other people remain as they did when you left us. The Knights of the Bath have given a magnificent ball, though seven hundred persons got in * See ante, after 5 April, 1770. + The following account of this ball appeared at the time :"The ball given by the new Knights of the Bath to the nobility at the Opera House, on Wednesday evening, was one of the most splendid spectacles ever exhibited on this, or perhaps any other occasion. The tickets were entirely confined to persons of distinction, of which, by nine o'clock in the evening, about two thousand assembled in the ball-room (the stage), which was decorated with a variety of allegorical paintings; the principal of which was that of Minerva robing the Knights of the Bath, a piece of seven feet square, placed over the gallery. The ball was opened by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland and Lady Augusta Campbell; after which many other minuets were danced before supper. The beauty and brilliancy of the ladies are not to be described. In a word, such a bewitching exhibition of natural charms was of itself sufficient to make Knight Errantry universal, without any borrowed aid from that profusion of jewels which dazzled the eyes of every admiring spectator. At twelve o'clock the company sat down to a most sumptuous hot repast, consisting of seven courses, all served in plate, which, it seems, was lent from Buckingham House for the occasion; and the dessert, consisting of pines, strawberries, ices, &c., was equally elegant. The wines were the most choice that could be procured. The butlers, &c., of the nobility attended, instead of waiters, and, to their credit be it spoken, never was a supper on such a scale so admirably served. It was provided by Mr. Weltzie in St. without tickets, which made it very uncomfortable. When and how is your fate to be decided, and when shall we be acquainted with your plans? It is better to be sleeping at Brookes', than to be sitting upright at a supper without any appetite; without any red wine; and without any interest whatever in the conversation, except when it is directed towards you, to know what the enemy thinks upon subjects he never gave a thought to. The Duke of Queensberry is well, though a little deaf, which alarms him. The old Fish's importunity will beat me in my application for Hare, and the young Fish will go to Warsaw. We have a rumour of good news from the West Indies. Perhaps you know more about it than we do here; but people are in good spirits, and hold their heads up high. All this house continue perfectly well, though our weather is very hot, and the children look a little pale by playing too much. The Duke of Northumberland, it is said, is to marry the Duchess of Ancaster. These are holidays, and politics sleep. Sir William Draper soon goes to Minorca. The Duke of Queens James's Street, whose spirit and skill on this occasion, we fear, will far exceed his profit. After supper the company danced country-dances and cotillions, till five yesterday morning, when the major part retired. Some of the royal princes were expected to supper, a table being provided for them in the King's room; but none were present, not even his Royal Highness the Bishop of Osnaburgh, who assisted at the instalment at Westminster, as Great Master of the Order." berry has added a little chaise with ponies; so that, with his vis-à-vis, Kitty's coach, and his ridinghorses, St. James's Street seems entirely to belong to him, and he has an exclusive right to drive in it. I do not know what emotion you should have had at the sight of Mons. de la F.* He did a very silly thing, and ought, if he is not a very silly man, to be much ashamed of it. If your nerves are to be affected at the sight of everything foolish and trifling where you are, you are indeed much to be pitied. If he wishes to proceed in the same path of glory, and acquire renown by similar conduct, he must call the Pope out next, who will perhaps do as I did. People like him who have lived with him; and he might, if he had judgment, repair this indiscretion. How is Mie Mie, and how does the air of the convent agree with her? Is the "black funereal "+ Gem always with you? Is the lady departed from Paris? Come to us as soon as you can. * This evidently refers to the hostile challenge sent by the celebrated General la Fayette to Lord Carlisle, during the mission of the latter in America. + See Harry Vane in pomp appear, See Tweedale follow Carteret's call, The black funereal Finches. Sir C. H. Williams. "A new Ode to a great number of Great Men.' |