The first entry in the journal for 1838, refers to a work which caused a great scandal and excitement at the time, though now it has fallen into the heap of things forgotten—The Diary of the Court and Times of George IV.
January 3.—The murder is out! There is the Diary in everybody’s hands, and since the publication of the New Atlantis, by Mrs. Manley, in the reign of Queen Anne—a scandal, a libel on the queen, people, and court of that day; such a book has not been seen, written, nor read.
January 8.—For the last month nothing has been
thought of or talked of but the Diary, and now Animal Magnetism has taken its
place, and all the titled credulity in London have been putting their fatuity
to the test of exhibiting themselves under the hands of Baron
| 432 | LADY MORGAN'S MEMOIR. |
January 9.—I am just returned with Sydney and José from looking at such a charming maisonette in William Street, which will meet our taste, and not exceed our means; no houses opposite, and all looks rather wild and rude (a thing that would be a field if it could), and a low wall round it; but then there is to be a pretty square, and then, no doubt the street will soon be built. The street terminates in Knightsbridge, of which locale I had a curious account from Dr. Milman, prebend of Westminster, which he has extracted from the rolls.
At the bottom of William Street, bounding the park, is a
little bridge over the great sewer of this quarter, behind which stands the
hideous gate of the beautiful Hyde Park. The tops of two poplar trees are all
we can see of it. This bridge was the spot where the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem used to assemble on a certain day in October to give convoy to the
monks of Westminster Abbey, on their return from their quest for provisions,
&c., for the convent, and to conduct them through the perilous jungles of
what is now Piccadilly, through which they were obliged to pass on their way to
the Abbey, according to an ancient tenure. Next to this gate stands the Cannon
Brewery,
| SETTLEMENT IN LONDON—1838. | 433 |
I saw Mr. Cubitt yesterday, a good, little, complying man; he has yielded to all my suggestions; will knock down walls between the rooms, build balconies, and a terrace, and is to give me a tree to plant in my bit of a garden (four feet by two) though I heard him say to Sir Charles, “She shall have it, but it will not grow in so confined a place.”
Mr. Cubitt was quite mistaken, the tree was planted (a plane tree), it grew and throve from the first day, it is now a fine piece of timber, standing higher than the chimneys.
To the diaries again:
January 11.—The fatal and almost pathetic conflagration of the Royal Exchange and its neighbourhood has swallowed up the discussions on all minor subjects. A note from my poor dear Sydney, who was an eye witness of the scene, sets my heart at ease as regards any harm having extended to her. It is one of the great fires that are historical.
| 434 | LADY MORGAN'S MEMOIR. |
What a sight I came in for last night, my dear Little Mamma. The burning down of the Royal Exchange!! I write you a few lines this morning to put your mind at ease respecting me. Being so close to it, we were, as you may suppose, kept in a state of great excitement and alarm. It was splendidly awful to see the beautiful dome all in a blaze, and tumbling piece by piece into the flames below, and the bells chiming their last in the midst of the fire, and strange to say, the last tune they chimed was at twelve o’clock, and that tune was “There is na luck about the House.” It quite affected me to hear it, and it had a choking effect upon us all, for the bells literally dropped one by one as they were playing the tune. All that now remains of this once great work of Sir Thomas Gresham’s, are the pillars! What ages it took to build that which a few hours has consumed! The gentlemen here rendered all the assistance they could, and when they came home at six o’clock this morning, the frost was so hard, that their clothes were literally frozen upon them, and they waited to melt them before they could take them off. We ladies have never been in bed, and have been kept very busy making hot tea all the morning for the frozen men who have dropped in. The house has been thronged all the morning with Lloyd’s people. I shall be with you to-morrow, dearest; so more anon.
| SETTLEMENT IN LONDON—1838. | 435 |
January 14.—Colburn, my persecutor, has become my slave and blackamoor! He has written Morgan a letter, offering to suppress the libellous passage about me in the Diary (a funny term for being represented as an ugly monster!). I have refused his offer, and given him a coup de patte for lending himself to such nastiness! Here is his letter, and the rough draft of my answer.
I was very much disconcerted on having pointed out to me a day or two ago, a passage in the diary about Queen Caroline, which refers in a very bad spirit to Lady Morgan. Unfortunately, the work was never properly examined by me, having been hastily published the moment it was finished at press.
On enquiring how it was that the passage came to be overlooked by the reviser, I am told it was thought that the note at the foot of the page was considered as a perfect refutation of the unjust and ill-natured remarks. I need not say that if I had been made aware of them, and had had time to give them proper consideration, I should certainly not have allowed them to appear, and I will now cancel them with great pleasure, if you wish it, being anxious to do everything that is honourable towards Lady Morgan, with whom it gives me great pleasure to be again on the most friendly terms.
| 436 | LADY MORGAN'S MEMOIR. |
With my best compliments and apologies to Lady Morgan and yourself, I beg to remain,
PS. I had not either the least knowledge that such a person as Lady Holland was alluded to in the book, and few others would have been aware of it, had not Colonel Webster made it public, and acted against my advice, very urgently given, of submitting first to Lord Holland the letter he sent to the Literary Gazette.
I beg to thank you myself for volunteering in a letter
to Sir Charles the offer of suppressing
a passage in the Diary of
Queen Caroline, which you say,
“refers in a very bad spirit to Lady
Morgan.” I never in my life interfered with the
printed expression of an opinion relative to myself, personal or literary; of
this you are well aware, and whether you repeat through future editions, or
suppress in the next, a passage which you say ought never to have appeared, I
leave to your own taste, feeling, and discretion. On your confession that
“unfortunately the work was never properly examined by you, and
was hastily published,” &c., I beg to re-
| SETTLEMENT IN LONDON—1838. | 437 |
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