I did my duty to my Sov—— no, to my family. I kissed the lion’s paw, but did not attempt to pull the tail of the beast. I have seen my caricatures, which are strong likenesses of the original, but until I saw George the Fourth, I never met a person who in features, contour, and general mien out-did their caricature. Hone’s likeness in the House that Jack Built is a flattery.
I shall be well pleased to hear that the charms of the Hermitage give way to the boudoir and library in Kildare Street. I really am not fit to leave home for more than a few hours. I even cross the bridge with reluctance. Yet I rowed my boat down to the bay, expecting a noble assemblage of vessels of war, but I was disappointed; probably because when soldiering on South Sea Common, I had repeatedly seen the British fleet riding at Spit Head. You have heard how Mrs. Dawson drove his Majesty from her society, and Mr. Dawson, I hear, says he is not surprised at it, as she is so old and ugly, that he has not kissed her himself these seventeen years. I hear he does not think the Irish ladies remarkable for their beauty. There are to be six feasts a year, &c., &c., &c., which, however, are at a stand, for Hercules is cleansing the prisons.
A letter from London of the 11th, says the King is
| THE BOOK ON ITALY—1821. | 151 |
Two bad days after what we have had are bad omens for rents. Yet, I cannot think with Mr. Attwood, that an issue of notes would cure short payments. I do think the monied interest should bear a proportion of the incumbrance, but really, the taking off duty on the manufacture of grain, and supplying the deficit by seven-and-a-half per cent, on poor devils who receive one hundred pounds a-year as compensation for their services, and letting contractors for loans, &c. go free, is not fair play.
I am lithographising Mr. Wolff’s prayer over the corse of the persecuted—injured Queen of England.
