LADY BLESSINGTON. | 197 |
It was shortly after her return to England that I was personally introduced to Lady Blessington by a mutual friend, and my acquaintance with her continued from that time till her departure from England a few weeks before her death.
At the period of my first introduction to Lady
Blessington, she had just contributed to the New Monthly Magazine (then under the direction of her friend
Sir Edward Bulwer) the “Conversations with Lord Byron,” and they had
obtained her a reputation for literary talent, of which her previous efforts, two slight
works entitled “The Magic
Lanthorn,” and “A Tour
in the Netherlands,” had given little or no promise. But these printed
“Conversations” with Byron, characteristic as they are both of him and of herself, are flat and
spiritless—or rather, marrowless—compared with Lady Blessing-
198 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 199 |
I soon found, on becoming personally acquainted with her, that another of
the attractions which contributed to give Lady
Blessington that unique position in London society which she held for so
many years, and even more exclusively and conspicuously after her husband’s death
than before it, was that strong personal interest which she felt, and did not scruple to
evince, on every topic on which she was called upon to busy herself,
200 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
In giving a few extracts from my occasional correspondence with Lady Blessington, I cannot do better than commence them by
one of the notes that I received from her at a very early stage of our acquaintance;
because it will (in my own estimation, at least) exonerate me from the charge of any
unwar-
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 201 |
I am not able to call to mind the occasion of the following graceful note, except that it related to something which had appeared in a newspaper I conducted at that time:—
“Dear Sir,—I do not think will —— —— feel any objection to the mention you have made of him. Of one thing I am quite sure,—which is, that neither he nor I could mistake the motive of any use made of our names by you.
“I am, indeed, sorry to hear that your connexion with the —— is coming to a crisis, if that crisis leads to a separation; because I wish well to the journal, and so wishing, must desire your continuance in it.
“I have been wishing to see you for some time, and shall be glad when you can make it convenient to call. I have reason to think that Mr. —— has been misrepresented to me. But more of this when we meet.
The two following letters relate to the subject glanced at in the preceding one. Circumstances make it proper that I should not dissipate the little mystery that involves them, further than to say that they refer to one of those literary intrigues which are met with even in the “best regulated” republic of letters:—
“Dear Sir,—Since I last saw
you, I have heard nothing on the subject we then talked of. I have not seen the
person who gave me the information I reported to you, and probably shall not
for some weeks or months, as I do not see him often, and in the last six months
have not seen him more than twice or thrice. Of the truth of the intelligence
he gave me I
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 203 |
“Believing Mr. —— to be incapable of deception or misrepresentation, I can see no objection to your seeking an interview with him, and stating your feelings. Mr. ——, in seeking a position which he was led to believe you were on the point of losing, violated no duty to you, as he was neither your friend nor acquaintance; but I am quite sure he would not seek the position had he not been assured that you are to leave it; and I am equally sure that he never addressed himself to Mr. —— on the subject, but that it was proposed to him by his friends, who represented themselves as being in Mr. ——’s confidence.
“I have now told you all I know. * * *
204 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
“I shall be glad to see you, to talk over more fully your future prospects, and remain,
“Dear Sir,—I agree with you in believing that the whole story was a plot got up by the contemptible family in question, and that Mr. ——, who is, as far as I have had an opportunity of judging, an honourable well-intentioned young man, was the dupe of it.
“I wish, as an act of justice, to impress on your mind that Mr. —— behaved in the whole affair in a very gentlemanly manner; and it will give me pleasure to say as much for Mr ——. * * * * *
“I have such a dread of even the most remote contact
with plotters and intriguantes, that
I bless my stars I am no longer exposed to the vulgar observations of the
persons who have already made free with my name. It will be my own fault if,
after the experience I have lately had, I commit myself again.
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 205 |
“Believe me, dear sir, sincerely yours,
The following notes relate to the same early period of my acquaintance with their writer. I make no apology for the seeming egotism of not expunging the personal compliments to myself which these and other of Lady Blessington’s notes contain, because my object in these Recollections is to mark the intellectual character and habits of the writer: and nothing does this more than little points of this nature.
“Dear Sir,—I have this moment received a very beautiful
volume entitled ‘The Album
Wreath,’ and beg you will do me the favour of making my
acknowledgment to Mr. Francis, whose
address I do not know. The present is enhanced, from the
206 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
The following note marks one of Lady Blessington’s favourite studies—that of genealogy:—
“Dear Sir,—A great mistake has crept into the notice of the death of Captain Lock.* He is stated to have been the grandson of the Duke of Leinster. This was not the case. The mother of Captain Lock was Miss Jennings, daughter of the celebrated Dog Jennings—so-called from having brought to this country the famous marble known as
* The singularly beautiful William Lock, of Norbury Park, who was drowned in the Lake of Como, in sight of his newly-wedded bride. |
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 207 |
“I shall be glad to see you when you have leisure, and remain,
“Dear Sir,—By mistake I directed my note of Monday morning to Camden Hill instead of Craven Hill Have you got it?
“The forthcoming dissection of my ‘Conversations,’
announced, is said to be from the pen of Mr.
——; and I think it not unlikely, for he is a reckless person who
has
208 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
‘Who dares do more than may become a man,’ |
“It was one of the worst traits in Byron, to receive persons in private, and then deny the acquaintance to those whom he considered might disapprove of it. This was in consequence of that want of self-respect which was his bane, but which was the natural consequence of the attacks he had experienced, acting on a very irritable and nervous constitution.
“I have letters from Naples up to the 2nd. Lord Bentinck died there on that day, and is
succeeded in his title and fortune by his brother, Mr.
Hill, who has been our minis-
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 209 |
I will now give a few extracts from my later epistolary intercourse with Lady Blessington; the object I have in view in the choice of them being, like all the rest of these Recollections, to mark those features of her intellectual character which cannot be gathered from her published writings.
Though Lady Blessington’s poetical talents were not above mediocrity, she had a fine perception and an enthusiastic admiration of the poetical faculties of others, and never missed an opportunity of testifying her feelings.
“My dear Mr. Patmore,—I
congratulate you on the charming poems of your son. They are indeed beautiful, and as fresh and original as
beautiful. My friend Mr.
210 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
The note below refers to an inquiry I had been led to make relative to a criticism on “Chatsworth,” said to have been written by Lady Blessington, and attributing that work to my esteemed friend Mr. Plumer Ward, who had requested me to learn, if possible, whether the graceful and gratifying things said of him in the critique in question were really written by her.
“My dear Mr. Patmore,—I have
no interest whatever in the —— ——
beyond that of wishing it may prove a successful
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 211 |
“With a fervent admiration of Mr. Plumer Ward, be assured that, had an occasion offered, I should have expressed it. Believe me,
Few readers will expect to find a work like Jerrold’s Magazine lying on the gilded tables of Gore House. But the following note will show that Lady Blessington’s sympathies extended to all classes:—
“My dear Mr. Patmore,—I have
been reading with great interest and pleasure your ‘Recollections’ of Hazlitt. They are full of
212 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
“What a clever production ‘Jerrold’s Magazine’ is, and how admirable are his own contributions! Such writings must effect good.
The following little bit of domestic history refers to a matter (the
relinquishment of her house in St. James’s Square by the Wyndham Club) which reduced
Lady Blessington’s income by five hundred a
year. It may be here proper to remark that nothing could be more erroneous than the
impressions which generally prevailed as to the supposed extravagance of Lady
Blessington in her equipage, domestic arrangements, &c. There were few
LADY BLESSINGTON. | 213 |
“My dear Mr. Patmore,—The house in St. James’s Square has been resigned by me to the executors of Lord Blessington, Messrs. Norman and Worthington, North Frederick Street, Dublin. They may be written to. Another party is in treaty for the house—a Sir W. Boyd; so that if your friend wishes to secure it, no time should be lost. There are about four years of the lease to expire. The rent paid for the house is 840l. a year, unfurnished and exclusive of taxes. The Wyndham Club paid 1350l. for it furnished. The furniture is now in a bad state, and the executors would let it either with or without the furniture, for the whole term, for little more than the rent they pay.
“I regret exceedingly to hear that you
214 | LADY BLESSINGTON. |
“Believe me, dear Mr. Patmore,
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