Mrs. Thrale, afterwards Mrs. Piozzi; a sketch of her life and passages from her diaries, letters & other writings

Front matter

MRS. TH RALE

AjleruJards MrS.FiOZZI

With Po?"traUs after

Chapter I

A Welsh Pedigree — Heroic Ancestors — Katharine of Berain — Richard Clough — Bachygraig — The Cottons of Combermere — Parentage and Birth — Brought to London — James Quin — David Garriclc — School in Queen Square — East Hyde — Sir Thomas Salusbury — Offley Place — Lady Salusbury — Dr. Collier — Hester a favourite — Hogarth — The Lady's Last Stake — Portents of Change— Mrs. King— Henry Thrale ..... i-ii

CHAPTER n.

Origin of the Thrale Family — Edmund Halsey — The Anchor Brewhouse — Lord Cobliam — Ralph Thrale — His Son's Education — The Cobham Cousins — Henry Thrale's Bachelorhood — Arthur Murphy — -Hester's Courtship — A Family Dispute— Sudden Death of her Father — His Will — Sir Thomas Salusbury — Hester's Marriage — First Experiences of Matrimony — Dr. Fitzpatrick — Birth of a Daughter — Character of Thrale — Murphy introduces Johnson — Growthof the Acquaintance — Johnson's Hypochondria — Streatham — Deadman's Place — The Globe Theatre — House at Brighton — Johnson's Menagerie^ — Macbean — Miss Williams — Robert Levet — Domestication with the Thrales — Mrs. Salusbury — Johnson's Peculiarities — His Dress — .■\ppetite — Taste in Food — Affects the Epicure — Love of Late Hours — Fondness for Tea — Want of Taste for iMusic and Painting — Mode of Entering a Room — Inarticulate LUterances — Twitchings — Ejaculations — A Favourite with Women — Characteristics of Mrs. Thrale — Her Personal Appearance — Her Dress — Influence over Johnson — He goes more into Society . . 12-43

Chapter III

Thrale enters Parliament — Mrs. Thrale gains Influence — Her .■Acquirements — Outshines her Husband — Her Conversation — Miss Williams's Miscellanies — Floretta — The Three Warnings — Dissolution of Parliament — John Wilkes — Thrale re-elected — Boswell at Streatham — Literary Talk — Johnson's Political Pamphlets — Verses at the Theatre — Thrale in Difficulties — Humphrey Jackson— Mrs. Thrale shows herself a Woman of Business — Johnson's Advice — Thrale out of Health — Alteration in him — Mr. Perkins — Conversations at Streatham — ^Johnson's Estimate of Mrs. Thrale — Thrale created Doctor — Death of Mrs. Salusbury — Johnson's Visit — His Letters to Mrs. Thrale — His Ode written in Skye— He will not suffer Boswell to slight Mrs. Thrale — Death of Sir Thomas Salusbury — Disappointment and Misfortunes — 'The viil Contents.

I'AKE

Journey to the Western Islands ' — Excursion to Wales — Visits to Lleweny Hall and Bachygraig — Johnson accuses his Mistress of Meanness — Bodvil — Visits to Lords Sandys and Lyttelton — General Election — Electioneering with Johnson — Project of bringing Johnson into Parliament . . . 44-75

Chapter IV

Mrs. Abington's Benefit — Johnson created Doctor — Marriages with Inferiors in Rank — Thrale not a Wit — B^retti — Account of Him — Tried for Murder — Enters Thrale's Family — His Character drawn by Mrs. Piozzi — Dr. Thomas Campbell — His Diary of a Visit to England— His Impressions of Baretti and Johnson — Dinners at Thrale's —Tour to France — Baretti makes Himself Useful — Johnson's Letter and Diary — Johnson Intractable — Disagreements —Verses to Mrs. Thrale — She translates an Epigram Impromptu — Johnson removes to Bolt Court — Boswell again in London — He goes with Johnson to the Midlands — Sudden Death of I'hrale's only son — Johnson and Boswell return to London — Johnson comforts the Parents — Proposed I'our to Italy given up — Garrick's Retirement— His Acting — The Thrales at Bath with Johnson — Visit from Boswell — Johnson Severe to Mrs. Thrale — He returns to London^Dines with Wilkes— Pressed to go agnin to Bath — Quarrel with Baretti — Mrs. Thrale describes the Rupture — Johnson's Account — Baretti's \'ersion — Apparent Reconciliation — Thraliana — Thrale described by his wife ......... 76-104

Chapter V

Visit to Dr. Barney's — The Lives of the Poets — Progress of the Brewery — Advice about ' Thraliana ' — Boswell at .'Ashbourne — Dr. Taylor's Cattle and Waterfall— Mrs. Thrale in Low Spirits — Letters from Johnson — Her alleged Inaccuracy — .K Lecture — Precept and Practice — Johnson and Lord Marchmont — Cornelius Ford — A Ghost Story — Thrale over-brews himself — ' Evelina' Published — Miss Burney Introduced at Streatham — Kindly Received — Second Vjsit — Johnson as an Inmate — His Opinions on Dress — Familj' Life at Streatham — Johnson's Domestic Economy — Lady Lade — Johnson's Portrait— The Brewery Prospers — The Black Dog — Discord in Bolt Court — Sophy Streatfield — Dr. Collier — Mrs. Thrale Jealous — Tears at Command — The Thrales at Brighton — Mr. Thrale has a Fit — Johnson's Sympathy — Thrale's Health Improves — Mrs. Thrale's Dislike of the Borough . 105-139.

Chapter VI

Mr. Thrale has a Second Fit — Recruits at Bath — Anxiety about him — Society at Bath — Melmoth — An Election in Prospect — Mrs. Thrale visits Southwark — Her Activity — Johnson Flattered — The Life of Congreve — The Gordon Riots — Alarm at Bath — The Brewery Saved — Address of Perkins — The Thrales Flee from Bath — Quiet Restored in London — Zeal of John Wilkes — Anecdotes — Perkins Rewarded — ^Johnson and Queeney — Mrs. Cholmondely — Seventy-Two^Bolt Court — Thrale Loses his Seat — His Health Declines — The Streatham Portraits— Verses on them by Mrs. Thrale — The Library at Streatham Park — Grosvenor Square — Conversazione — Other Entertainments — -A Foreign Tour Projected —Signs of Danger — \'oracious Appetite — Sudden Death — Johnson's Grief — He Comforts the Widow — The Will — The Executors- Distress of Mrs. Thrale— The Trade to be Carried on—

Contents. ix

r.\(;E Johnson's Mercantile Ardour — The Brewery Sold — The Barclays — The Summer at Streatham — Johnson and Pepys — Vwm and Sacchini — Mrs. Thrale and Fanny Burney ...... 140-170

Chapter VII

Introduction to Piozzi — .\ccount of him — He goes Abroad— Second Sight — Piozzi Returns — Beginning of Uneasiness — Good Resolutions — Harley Street — The Widow Watched — Fears for Johnson — Death of Levet — Verses on him — Johnson's Emotion— Social Comforts — Mrs. Thrale lias an Assembly — Literary Women — Mrs. Thrale Described — Rumours of her marrying Again— Johnson 111 and Dispirited — A Lecture on Peevishness— Dr. Lee — Modern Refinement — Burton on Melancholy — Johnson and the CJuakers — His l^osition at Streatham — A Disastrous Lawsuit — Reasons for Quitting Streatham — The Park Let to Lord Shelburne — The Last Summer there — Madame d'Arblay's Recollections — Johnson's Farewell to Streatham — He Accompanies Mrs. Thrale to Brighton — His Severity — Mrs. Thrale confesses her .Attachment — Conduct of her Daughters and Miss Burney — Her Mental Struggles — Piozzi Dismissed — Embarrassments — ^Vrgyll Street — Resolution to leave London — Removal to Bath — The Parting with Piozzi — Mrs. Thrale loses her Youngest Daughter — Resentment .... 171-201

CHAPTER VI H.

Discontent — Johnson has a .Stroke — Mrs. Thrale's -Situation — Sir Philip Jennings Clerk— .\n Old Friend — Mrs. Thrale's Health — Miss Burney's Sympathy — Repinings — Irritation — Want of Society — Piozzi Recalled — The News told to Johnson — Correspondence — Rupture — Farewell — Return of Piozzi — The Marriage — Baretti's .Attack .... 202-218

Chapter IX

Departure for the Continent — Calais — Aspect of the Country — Chantilly — The Prince of Cond^ — Paris — The Palais Royal — The Parisians— Beaumarchais— The English Austin Nuns — An Air Balloon — .Animal Magnetism — Mont Cenis — Italian Costume — Milan — Christmas Festivities — Free Manners — The Theatre of La Scala — The Lower Classes — Cremona — The Bells — Dr. Burney — Verona— Venice — Venetian Society — The Po— Ferrara — Talassi's Visit to .Streatham — Bologna — The Painters of the Bolognese School — Journey to Florence ...... 219-242

C:HAPrER X.

Florence— An linglish Inn — Sir Horace Mann — Forests— .An Eulogium on Captain Cook — A Cardinal — The Lhigiui Tosotiiu— Hasty Burials — Lucca -Completion and Despatch of the ' .Anecdotes '—The Bagni di Pisa- Illness of Mr. Piozzi — Insects — First View of Rome — The Coliseum — The King of Sweden — Queen Christina — Dislike of Perfumes — In.sanitary Streets — Escape of Mr. Piozzi from Assassination — Arrival at Naples— Vesuvius — St. Januarius — The King of Naples — The Grotto del Cane — Reminiscence of the Southwark Brewery — The Hermit of Vesuvius — Return to Rome — The Carnival — Kissing the Slipper — .Anecdote of the Emperor — Angelica Kauffinan— Loretto — Correggio— Return to Milan — The limperor Joseph's

X Contents.

I'AGE

Reforms — Lugano — Farewell to Italy — Innsbruck — Munich — Salzburg — Vienna — The Emperor — Metastasio — Prague — Dresden — Berlin— Antwerp — Return to England ....... 243-273

Chapter XI

Macaulay's Account of the Flight to Italy — Obloquy — Insults from Baretti — Continuing Regard for Johnson — His Death— Projected Work on Him — The Florence Miscellany — The 'Anecdotes' — Rupture with Boswell — Inaccuracies in the ' Anecdotes ' — .Shows Resentment against Johnson — Walpole's Censures — Sale of the Book — Peter Pindar — Bozzyand Piozzi — E.xtracts — Miss Thrale— The Piozzis Return to England — Their Reception— Miss Seward's Impressions of Mrs. Piozzi and her Husband . . . 274-290

Chapter XII

Life in England — Publication of the Letters — Opinions on them — Baretti's Libels — Mrs. Piozzi's Character of him after his Death — ' The Sentimental Mother ' — The Blues Ashamed — The Book of Travels — Walpole's Sentence — • Miss Seward's Opinion — Samuel Rogers — Conduct of the Daughters — Mrs. Piozzi and Miss Burney — Return to Streatham Park — Gaieties there— Mr. Piozzi lays out Money — Society in London — Dr. Parr — Boswell's Life Published — Boswell's Attack on her — W'alpole Sides with her — 'British Synonymy ' — Gifford's Opinion on it — Walpole's Criticism — Removal to Wales — Brynbella — Piozzi's Amiable Character — His Prudent Economy — Adoption of an Heir — Sir John Salusbury — ' Retrospection ' — Piozzi's Gout — Her Cares of him — Her Irrepressible Spirits — Miss Thrale marries Lord Keith — A Visit from Dr. Burney — Death of Piozzi — His Will . . 291-314

CHAPTER XIIL

Cession of Brynbella — Subsequent Life- — Lavish E.vpenditure — Sir James Fellowes — Attempt to Dispose of Streatham — A Bath Cat — The Streatham Portraits Sold by Auction — Improvements in London — Bath Life — Mr. Mangin's Account of her — Her Handwriting — Rouge — Anecdotes of Johnson— Acquirements — Literary Conversation at Bath — Sir William Pepys — Miss Hawkins — Fickleness of Public Taste — Bennet Langton — Fazio — Miss O'Neill — The Conway Episode — Renewed Acquaintance with Madame d'Arblay — Moore's Impression of her — Celebration of her Eightieth Birthday— Her Death and Will — Madame d'Arblay's Parallel between her and Madame de Stael — Mr. Hayward's Criticism — His Estimate of Mrs. Piozzi — Sayings and Anecdotes ....... 315-336

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Mrs. Piozzi, after]. Jackson, R.A.

William Hogarth, after a Picture by Himself .

Elizabeth and Maria Gunning, after F. Cotes, R

Joseph Baretti, after Sir J. Reynolds

Mrs. Abington, after Sir J. Reynolds .

Garrick, as Abel Drugger, after]. Zoffany .

Henry Thrale, «://£/• Sir J. Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds, after a Picture by Himself

Miss O'Neill, (7/?t?;- A. W. Davis

I>AGE

Frontispiece. to i8 78 84 94

156 328

MRS. THRALE

Chapter I

A Welsh Pedigree — Heroic Ancestors — Katharine of Berain — Richard Clough — Bachygraig — The Cottons of Combermere — Parentage and ]5irth — — Brought to London — James Quin — David Garrici^ — School in ()ueen Square — East Hyde — Sir Thomas Salusbury — Offley Place — Lady Salusbury — Dr. Collier — Hester a favourite — -Hogarth — The Lady's Last Stake —Portents of Change — Mrs. King — Henry Thrale.

* I ONCE heard it asserted that few men of ever so good a family could recollect, immediately on being challenged, the maiden names of their four great grandmothers.' So wrote the subject of the following pages, at the outset of a short account which, in her later days, she drew up of her own early life. Persons thus forgetful, she added, could not be Welshmen. The clever lady who figured for many years in English society, first as Mrs. Thrale, and afterwards as Mrs. Piozzi, was a true Welshwoman, and could do much more than this. She had at her fingers' ends the pedigree of her race, beginning with ' Adam of Salzburg, younger son to Alexander, Duke of Bavaria, who came to England with the Conqueror, and obtained for his valour a fair house in Lancashire.' Her memory was stored with

'a hoard of tales that dealt with knights, Half legend, half historic, counts and kings Who laid about them at their wills and died.'

2 Heroic Ancestors.

Among the early descendants of the first father Adam, she celebrated Henry Salusbury, surnamed 'the Black,' who was said to have taken three Emirs with his own hand in the first Crusade, and on his return to have built Lleweny* Hall, in Denbighshire, setting on its highest tower a brazen figure of the Bavarian lion which adorned his shield. The story ran that, besides knighting Black Sir Harry on the field of battle, Coeur de Lion rewarded his prowess by adding to his blazonry the three crescents which his successors subsequently displayed on their coat-of-arms. Coming further down, the genealogist told of another Henry Salusbury who gave quarter to a beaten foe in the great battle at Barnet, and whose name, carved on a stone by the roadside there, she remembered, or believed she remembered, to have been pointed out to her by her father when she was a child. In confirmation of the latter authentic incident, she could appeal to the fact that her family for generations had flaunted the motto, * Sath est prostrassc Iconi.'

The author of this magnanimous boast had fought on the side of the White Rose, but the inhabitants of North Wales v/ere generally adherents of the opposite faction. We are on firmer ground when we read that, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, John Salusbury, son and heir of Sir John Salusbury, of Lleweny, wedded her Grace's cousin, the fair Katharine of Berain, in the same county, who was also descended from the marriage between Owen Tudor and Katharine of France, the widow of Henry V.t

* It appears that Lle^u in Welsh signifies a devoiirer^ a lion.

t Mrs. Piozzi traced the descent thus: ' Owen Tudor had three sons by Queen Katharine. The first of these, Edmund, Earl of Richmond, \vas father to Henry VII. ; the second was Jasper, Earl of Pembroke ; the third was Fychan Tudor, of Berain. Fychan's son married Jasper's daughter, and had an only child, who, wedding Constance d'Aubigne, favourite lady to Anne de Bretagne, was father to the famous heiress, Katharine Tudor of Berain.' — ' Piozziana,' p. 27.

Richard C lough, 3

Having survived her husband, this lady, after a brief courtship, gave her hand to another Welshman, Richard Clough, who had acquired wealth and distinction in commerce, both as a merchant on his own account, and as factor, or agent, for that prince of merchants, Sir Thomas Gresham. In his youth Clough had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and had there been created a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, in consequence of which Pennant and other popular writers, including Mrs. Piozzi, have styled him ' Sir ' Richard Clough. He afterwards fixed his abode at Antwerp, where he was employed, under Gresham's direction, in negotiating loans, and in smuggling money, arms, and goods, on behalf of the English Government. In 1567 he returned to Wales, where his marriage presently took place, and in the same year he began building in a retired valley near Denbigh the house of Bachygraig, and at a little distance another house, to which he gave the name of Plas Clough. Both houses were built in the Dutch style, and probably by Dutch workmen.

Clough* died in 1570, at the age of about forty, leaving two daughters, of whom the elder, Anne, inherited Bachygraig, and married Roger Salusbury, younger brother of her mother's first husband. Katharine of Berain, when left a widow for the second time, became the wife of Morris Wynn, of Gwydyr, in Caernarvonshire. There is a story that she was addressed by this Morris as she returned from following John Salusbury to the grave, and told him that she had engaged herself to Richard Clough, but that if she were unfortunate enough to survive him she consented to be lady of Gwydyr. Having

* For an account of Richard Clough, see Fuller's Worthies, Flintshire, ed. 1662, pp. 39, 40, and 'Dictionary of National Biography,' vol. xi. Clough appears to have suggested to Gresham the idea of the Royal Exchange (Pennant's ' Account of London,' ed. 1814, p. 299).

4 The Cottons of Coinberinere.

duly performed both contracts, she took for her fourth and last husband Edward Thelwall, of Plas y Ward, in Denbighshire ; and with hh, says Mrs. Piozzi, her bones repose.

Mrs. Piozzi relates that Roger Salusbury, the husband of Anne Clough, having quarrelled with the head of his family, tore down the lion from the tower of Lleweny, and fixed it on the roof of his own wife's house. From this pair, by a descent of which the historian was familiar with every step, her father, John Salusbury, was lineally sprung, and died the owner of Bachygraig, while the elder branch soon terminated in a female heiress, Hester, who, marrying Sir Robert Cotton, of Combermere, gave him and her issue by him the name of Salusbury Cotton. This Lady Salusbury Cotton had a granddaughter, Hester Maria, who married John Salusbury, of Bachygraig, and in their only child, whose life is now to be told, the blood of the two stocks was united.

The match between these two distant cousins was neither a very prudent, nor a very fortunate alliance. The lady, indeed, combined the charms of wealth with those of beauty and amiabihty. She is stated to have had £10,000 — an excellent portion in those days — besides an annuity of ;^i25 for the life of her mother, who had barely reached middle age. She was also warmly attached to her kinsman, and though hving gaily with her brother, Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, and his wife, Lady Betty Tollemache, refused all other suitors whom the attractions of her purse and person brought to her feet. The gentleman, however, appears to have had nothing to recommend him beyond a reputation for gaiety and spirit. He was not only a man of wayward temper, but unsteady in his conduct and spendthrift in his habits. Unchecked by the care of a father, who

Parentage and Birth. 5

died during the infancy of his sons, John Sakisbur}- had wrecked the family estate, as far as the settlement on his mother, Lucy Salusbury, permitted. So completely had he done this, that when his marriage took place in 1739, the bride's £"10,000 scarcely sufficed to pay his debts, and furnish the couple a cottage at Bodvel in Caernarvonshire. There, after one or two disappointments, they had a daughter, who was their only child, and was baptized Hester, after her mother, and Lynch, from the maiden name of her maternal grandmother. Lady Cotton. Hester Lynch Salusbury, afterwards Mrs. Thrale, and later on Mrs. Piozzi, was born on January 16, 1740, old style, or January 27, 1741, new style.

The child from infancy showed quick parts and a lively disposition, which made her the plaything, and almost the sole occupation of her parents, who were compelled by their circumstances to remain at Bodvel until either the death of the dowager Mrs. Salusbury, or some other accident should occur to improve their situation. The looked-for events were not long in coming : Mrs. Salusbury of Bachygraig died ; and Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, having lost Lady Betty, who left her husband childless, manifested an inclination to attach himself to his sister and her little girl. Hester, with her parents, was invited to Lleweny, and came to the old Hall, which she remembered in after - years as hung round with armour, and where she won the heart of her uncle, who called her Fiddle, and was amused by the readiness and freedom of her talk. The baronet, who was displeased with an unequal match made by his only brother, and could not brook the indolent pride of his sister's impecunious husband, began to think of altering his will, and leaving his niece the portion of a daughter.

It seems to have been shortly after the conclusion of

6 Brought to London.

this visit to Lleweny Hall that little Hester, now turned five years of age, was carried by her parents up to London. They went by invitation to her uncle Sir Robert's house in Albemarle Street, whither he had promised to follow them within two months. Before the end of the time mentioned, news came that he had died of apoplexy. His sudden end prevented the fulfilment of his intention to make provision for the child, his whole fortune going under the existing will to his brother. Sir Lynch Salu3bury Cotton.

John Salusbury next fell into the hands of projectors, who pretended to find lead on his encumbered estate ; but he left his wife and little Hester in town. The latter became a favourite with the Duke and Duchess of Leeds, who had some previous knowledge of the Salusburys. Under their roof she often met the great actor James Quin, who taught her to recite Satan's address to the sun in ' Paradise Lost.'* Afterwards, she says, she was taken to the play to see him act Cato, and when he appeared on the stage, to the great amusement of both Duchess and player, the child went to the front of the box, and made him a formal curtsey. The next incident that impressed itself on her memory was the display of fireworks for the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. She remembered sitting on a terrace to see them, and being fed with sweetmeats by David Garrick, who was charmed because, on his asking * why those things that blew up were called Gerbes in the programme,' she answered at once : ' Because they are like wheat-sheaves, you see, and gerhe is French for a wheat-sheaf.' When Garrick was intimate at Streatham

* Frederick, Prince of Wales, appointed Quin to instruct his children in elocution, and under his direction there were amateur performances at Leicester House, in which the young Princes and Princesses took part. When told how well George III. delivered his first speech, the old actor exclaimed proudly : ' Ah, it was I who taught the boy to speak !' And the King placed his old master on the civil list.

East Hyde. y

Park more than twenty years afterwards, she adds, he did not Hke that story — it made him feel too old.

' Lord Halifax,' continues the writer, ' was now, or soon after, head of the Board of Trade, and wished to immortalize his name — he had no sons — by colonizinj^ Nova Scotia. Cornwallis and my father, whom he patronized, were sent out, the first persons in every sense of the words ; and poor dear mamma was left sine pane almost, I believe, certainly sine niimmo, with her odd little charge, a girl without a guinea, whose mind, however, she ceased not to cultivate in every possible manner. For French, writing and arithmetic, I had no instructor but herself; and when she went from home where I could not be taken, my temporary abode was the great school in Queen Square, where Mrs. Dennis and her brother, the Admiral Sir Peter Dennis, said I was qualified, at eight years old, for teacher rather than learner ; and he actually did instruct me in the rudiments of navigation, as the globes were already familiar to me.'

The small-pox and measles having interrupted her studies, her grandmother, Lady Cotton, invited her with her mother to spend a summer at East Hyde, a country seat belonging to her ladyship near Luton, on the borders of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. ' At East Hyde I learned to love horses ; and when my mother hoped I was gaining health by the fresh air, 1 was kicking my heels on a corn-bin, and learning to drive of the old coachman, who, like everybody else, small and great, delighted in taking me for a pupil. Grandmamma kept four great ramping war-horses for her carriage, with immense long manes and tails, which we buckled and combed ; and when, after long practice, I showed her and my mother how two of them (poor Colonel and Peacock) would lick my hand for a lump of

8 Sir Thomas Sa/uslucry.

su^ar or fine white bread, much were they amazed ; much more when my skill in guiding them round the courtyard on the break could no longer be doubted or denied, though forbidden to be exercised for the future.'

Not far from East Hyde is Offley, in Hertfordshire, where lived Sir Henry Penrice, the Judge of the Admiralt}' Court, w^ho, by an heiress of the Spencer family, was the father of an only daughter, the destined successor to the fortunes of both her parents. Now John Salusbury had a younger brother Thomas, who, after passing through Cambridge, had studied the Civil Law, and was now in full practice in Doctors' Commons. This rising advocate was a constant visitor at Offley Place, and became a candidate for the hand of the accomplished Anna Maria Penrice. The young lady was by no means averse from his suit, and sought the friendship of his sister-in-law, while she bestowed her favour freely on Hester. Mrs. John Salusbury was by no means disposed to forward the match, considering that her absent husband's interest had been neglected by his brother, who had undertaken to act for him while abroad. Love, however, was Dr. Thomas's apology ; Mrs. John Salusbury's complaints were hushed, and the lovers married. Satisfied with the great wealth he had acquired, Sir Henry resigned his office in 175 1, after a tenure of thirty-six years, and died in the following year. He was succeeded both in his post and his estate by his son-in-law, who had now became Sir Thomas Salusbury."^

' My father,' continues Hester, ' meanwhile behaved

* At the end of Burrell's Admiralty Reports, edited by Marsdon, will be found printed, 'Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated the 19th December, 1752, granted to the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Salusbury, Knight and Doctor of Laws, for the office of Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of England, so long as he shall behave himself, with a salary of ;^400 pei- aiimctn.' He had previously held the post of Advocate-General for the office of Lord High Admiral.

Dr. Collier. 9

perversely, quarrelling and fighting duels, and fretting his friends at home. My mother and uncle, taking advantage of a gloomy letter, begged him to return and share the gaieties of Offley Place. . . . Here I reigned long a fondled favourite.' Lady Salusbury, though her health soon began to decline, took care that her young charge should be instructed in Latin and modern languages. For this purpose she employed the aid of a certain Dr. Collier, who is frequently mentioned by his pupil. This gentleman appears to have been the eldest son of Arthur Collier, a writer on metaphysics, who, in the early part of the eighteenth century, worked out for himself a system similar to that of Bishop Berkeley. The younger Collier bore his father's Christian name, and engaged in the profession of a lawyer, in which, however, he did not achieve any extraordinary distinction.* He is described by the author of the ' Lives of the Civilians 't as an ingenious, but unsteady and eccentric man, the confidential lawadviser of the notorious Duchess of Kingston, whose marriage with the Duke he had a large share in promoting. He undertook the tuition of Hester Salusbury in 1757, but in March, 1759, her kind aunt died.

' Study,' wrote the pupil, in after years, ' was my delight, and such a patroness would have made stones students. . . . Felicity in this world, however, lasts not long. Poor Lady Salusbury died, at forty-one years old, of dropsy in the breast, and uncle said he had no kindness but for me. I think I did share his fondness with his stud ; our stable was the first for hunters of enormous value — for racers, too ; and our house, after my aunt's death, was even haunted by young men who made court to the niece, and expressed

* He frequently appears as a counsel conducting cases in the volume of Law Reports mentioned in our last note.

t ' Sketches of the Lives and Characters of Eminent English Civilians,' by one of the members of the College (Charles Coote, LL.D. ), London, 1S04.

I o Hogarth.

admiration of the horses. Every suitor was made to understand my extraordinary value. Those who could read were shown my verses ; those who could not were judges of my prowess in the field. It was my sport to mimic some, and drive others back, in order to make Dr. Collier laugh, who did not perhaps wish to see me give a heart away which he held completely in his hands, since he kindly became my preceptor in Latin, logic, rhetoric, etc. ... A friendship more tender, or more unpolluted by interest or by vanity, never existed ; love had no place at all in the connection, nor had he any rival but my mother. Their influence was of the same kind, and hers was the stronger.'