The “Pope” of Holland House
John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 20 April 1822
April 20, 1822.
I told you I would send some little account of my Easter
excursion; which, notwithstanding the unfavourable weather, sufficiently answered
its purpose of health and relaxation. At Bury I passed two days, and was happy to
find the boys1 going on well, Edward in particular, who was an invalid, seems to be better in
health and spirits than I have known him for many months. Mr. and Mrs.
Kennedy were with me and extremely pleased with all they saw. This
was highly satisfactory, the more so as Mr. K., who was
educated at Harrow, well knows what English schools are.
Whilst we were at Bury we went to see Ickworth, a large house
built by the late Lord Bristol, the founder of
Down Hill (I believe it is called), on the coast of Antrim, which I recollect your
seeing in Ireland. The ground plot of the house is oval, and is of prodigious
height; and though little more than a shell, it has cost with the chimney-pieces,
bas-reliefs, and other ornaments from Italy (many of which are in packages
unopened), upwards of £50,000. I conclude that it will never be finished.
At Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, I saw a brother of Crabbe, the poet, a respectable and intelligent
painter and glazier, who confirmed to me several of the particulars I had heard of
his brother’s
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early life. I was gratified by viewing
some of the scenes, which Crabbe has described so beautifully,
and which he has made so interesting by his admirable Dutch painting. Suffolk is
very monotonous, and generally bare of trees, but the agriculture is excellent, the
cottages good, and the villages often very beautiful. I was pleased with Harwich
and Colchester, and with much of the country between those two towns. I remember
Madame de Staël, who landed at Harwich
from Sweden, describing it with great raptures.
I hear that the Edgeworths, who are still at Lady Elizabeth
Whitbread’s, have again suddenly and,
as Lord Londonderry says, “upon the crane
neck principle,” altered their plans and determined to stay a month longer in
London.
I have not seen Ricardo’s pamphlet,1 but hear a good account of it from
Warburton and the adepts. He did not
send me a copy, as he had done of his former works, considering me perhaps as a
heretic.
George Crabbe (1754-1832)
English poet renowned for his couplet verse and gloomy depictions of country persons and
places; author of the
The Village (1783),
The
Parish Register (1807),
The Borough (1810), and
Tales of the Hall (1819).
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849)
Irish novelist; author of
Castle Rackrent (1800)
Belinda (1801),
The Absentee (1812) and
Ormond (1817).
Thomas Francis Kennedy (1788-1879)
Educated at Harrow (where he was a contemporary of Byron) and Edinburgh University, he
was a Whig MP for Ayr (1818-34) who married the daughter of Sir Samuel Romilly and was a
friend of Francis Jeffrey.
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).
Edward Romilly (1804-1870)
The third son of Sir Samuel Romilly and Anne Garbett; educated at Bury St Edmunds and
Christ's College, Cambridge, he was M.P. for Ludlow (1832-5) and member of the Board of
Audit (1837-66).
Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Reformer of the penal code and the author of
Thoughts on Executive
Justice (1786); he was a Whig MP and Solicitor-General who died a suicide.
Germaine de Staël (1766-1817)
French woman of letters; author of the novel
Corinne, ou L'Italie
(1807) and
De l'Allemagne (1811); banned from Paris by Napoleon, she
spent her later years living in Germany, Britain, and Switzerland.
Henry Warburton [Eliot Warburton] (1784-1858)
Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a Radical MP for Bridport in
Dorset (1826-41) who took an interest in bodysnatching.
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.”
