The “Pope” of Holland House
John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 16 February 1822
Feb. 16.
Parliament has been very active since its commencement, but I
cannot commend its measures. The violent Acts called for by Lord Wellesley give me no great hopes as to his
Administration; and it would not surprise me if he was to turn out, after all, a
vulgar and commonplace Lord Lieutenant.
His conduct in India was on many occasions very arbitrary, and I
am glad of what was said on this subject by Lord
Folkestone and Dr.
Lushington. Lord Londonderry’s
speech last night did not satisfy the country gentlemen; but we shall see in a few
days whether they will force the Ministers to stronger measures. Ricardo is considered as too much of a theorist;
and though I agree with him in all his general principles, I am sorry that he
thinks it necessary to promulgate them in Parliament, as they afford a good handle
to the enemies of economy and retrenchment.
Miss Edgeworth, I believe still lingers at
Lady Elizabeth Whitbread’s. I am
sorry she does not take lodgings: which, as she has received £600 for her
“History of Little
Frank,” one would think she might afford to do. Miss Aikin’s book on the reign of James the First is very
successful, and deservedly so. It is praised by Lady
Holland and Mackintosh.
Lucy Aikin (1781-1864)
English biographer and historian, the daughter of Dr. John Aikin and niece of Anna
Letitia Barbauld, whose works she edited (1825). She published in the
Literary Gazette.
William Pleydell- Bouverie, third earl of Radnor (1779-1869)
Son of the second earl (d. 1828); educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, he was Whig MP
for Downton (1801) and Salisbury (1802-28), and an associate of Sir Francis Burdett and
Samuel Whitbread.
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849)
Irish novelist; author of
Castle Rackrent (1800)
Belinda (1801),
The Absentee (1812) and
Ormond (1817).
Elizabeth Fox, Lady Holland [née Vassall] (1771 c.-1845)
In 1797 married Henry Richard Fox, Lord Holland, following her divorce from Sir Godfrey
Webster; as mistress of Holland House she became a pillar of Whig society.
Stephen Lushington (1782-1873)
Barrister, judge, and Whig MP; educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, he advised
Lady Byron on a separation from Lord Byron in 1816.
Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832)
Scottish philosopher and man of letters who defended the French Revolution in
Vindiciae Gallicae (1791); he was Recorder of Bombay (1803-1812) and
MP for Knaresborough (1819-32).
David Ricardo (1772-1823)
English political economist, the author of Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
(1817); he was a Whig MP for Portarlington (1819-23).
Richard Wellesley, first marquess Wellesley (1760-1842)
The son of Garret Wesley (1735-1781) and elder brother of the Duke of Wellington; he was
Whig MP, Governor-general of Bengal (1797-1805), Foreign Secretary (1809-12), and
Lord-lieutenant of Ireland (1821-28); he was created Marquess Wellesley in 1799.
Lady Elizabeth Whitbread [née Grey] (d. 1846)
The daughter of General Charles Grey, first Earl Grey; in 1788 she married the brewer and
politician Samuel Whitbread. Maria Edgeworth described her as “in one word,
delightful.”
