Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries
Samuel Rogers to Sarah Rogers, 26 October 1808
‘When I received your kind letter, my dear Sarah, I felt a strong wish to answer it
directly, but at that time Mrs. M. was writing, and I have
since put it off from time to time—I am sure I don’t know
why—for I never feel more pleasure than when I sit down to write to you.
I did indeed fear you would be cruelly disappointed. [He then refers at some
length to a picture about which this cruel disappointment had been experienced,
and continues.] But the pen-drawing done in the Temple, slight as it is, is
however something to remember by. It was done as you sat, and it tells you how
you used to sit together, and there are some circumstances about it, my dear,
dear Sarah, that would make me value it more than any
picture. I rejoice to hear you are passing your time
comfortably—pleasantly, I hope. Perhaps you have left Quarry Bank and are
now at Cheadle. But I think it best to direct to Mrs.
Greg’s, to whom pray remember me very affectionately.
Henry, I thought, seemed to like his
journey pretty well, though he made it very short, and caught cold at Brighton,
as I have done. ![]()
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I left town to go again to Leatherhead
fair, which was very pretty, though the day was not so fine as last year. I
dined afterwards at Norbury, and there met a Miss Barton,
a cousin of Mrs. Wm. Lock, who inquired
very particularly after you. She had seen you, I believe, at Cheadle.
Mrs. Lock’s booth cleared 50l. the first day. Mrs. Fox was
there; she had come over from St. Anne’s. Miss
Willoughby, she says, is very poorly. She says we must go to her
fair next year—and, indeed, I wish now we had paid her a visit. The next
night I dined and slept at Chart, Sir Charles
Talbot’s, and the day afterwards came here, riding all the
way (except one stage in a returned chaise). Alas! I met with a sad misfortune
the other day. I was walking the poor old mare very near my lodgings, when down
she came and cut her knees to the bone; but she kept her head erect, poor
thing! so I felt little or no shock, and I am happy to think she has never
thrown me in the fifteen years we have spent together. They say she will never
do again, so I must look out for some place of rest for her, if she is not
shot, like Golumpus and the other old worthies of
the family. I have been here a fortnight to-morrow, and have a very small house
in a street leading from the Marine Parade, which last is now very expensive,
and which is very gay on a fine day.
‘Before our old house there now stands a group of asses
and ponies for the idle and luxurious. My great resource is Lady Donegal and Miss
Godfrey, with whom I pass most of my time, though I have twice
dined with Lady Jersey, whose daughter is
still lingering, very cheerful, but with no chance of recovery. Every evening
she flatters herself that her feverish fit will not come on, ![]()
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and then it comes. She does not leave her room. The
weather has been sunshiny but very cold, but now it is very forlorn indeed, and
nothing stirring but the winds and waves—a circumstance I am not sorry
for, as I seldom stir out but to catch cold. I am now reading the Italian
again, and am in the horrors of the Inquisition. I wish you were with me, but
wishing does no good. I sometimes go to the music on the Parade, but, as you
remember, it is a very cold place. Brighton at present is very full. The
warmest place is the front of the Marine Library, and a never-failing scene of
entertainment. The scarlet cloaks are innumerable. The Grattans are at Worthing, where they went the
week after they dined with us. Mr. G. is now with them.
They come here as soon as lodgings are cheaper. S.
Boddington has been there for six weeks with
Grace, and has just taken a house here in the New
Steyne. He is now in town, but she is here with her gourernante, and I have just been paying her a visit. She is really
growing, I think, a fineish girl, but she has a bad cold just now, and is
almost as deaf as her mother used to be. I have just received a letter from
Wm. Maltby. He stands for Porson’s place at the Institution,
“by the deliberate advice,” he says, “of those
who are most likely to know the disposition of the electors.” He
says he has daily communication with Henry on this subject. John
Mallet was here last week, but is now gone.
‘Westall has
been sketching boats and fishermen for a few days here; he went to-day.
Lady Donegal goes on Friday, and I go
on Monday to Glynde, a seat of Lord
Hampden’s near Lewes, for three or, four days, and then
return home. I once thought of Crewe and of ![]()
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Cheadle, my
dear Sarah, but at present I feel
chilly and frightened at the thoughts of such an expedition. When do you mean
to come back to us? I hope the time won’t he long, but of the time
exactly you are not unfortunately complete mistress. Pray remember me very
particularly to all at Cheadle, about whom I feel just as warmly as I ever did,
notwithstanding the letter which I thought it my duty to write when acting in
my commercial character for others, as well as myself. The Prince is not here this season, but his stables
are nearly finished, and are exactly like one of those Indian mausoleums in
Daniel’s views. They are
really very pretty, and are done by Porden, who is building Lord
Grosvenor’s near you. Here is hunting, but I am now too
old for even such a part as I used to take in it. We have had a most miserable
supply of fish, but this place is now a town, shooting out in all directions
but one, where the sea presents a small obstacle. The George
Edisons are here. Farewell, my dear Sarah!
Pray write to me in town, and believe me to be,
‘Ever yours,
‘Henry wants
me to write to Parsons on his marriage: what am I to
say?’
Samuel Boddington (1766-1843)
West India merchant in partnership with Richard “Conversation” Sharp; he was a Whig MP
for Tralee (1807). Samuel Rogers and Sydney Smith was a friend.
Anna May Chichester, marchioness of Donegall [née May] (d. 1849)
The illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward May, second baronet; she married Sir George
Augustus Chichester, second marquess of Donegall in 1795. In 1815 it was revealed that she
was under-age at the time of her marriage.
William Daniell (1769-1837)
Landscape painter and engraver who worked in India; he published
Oriental Scenery (1795-1808). In 1801 Daniell married Mary, the sister of Richard
Westall.
Elizabeth Bridget Armistead Fox [née Cane] (1750-1842)
English courtesan who succeeded Mary Robinson in the affections of the Prince of Wales;
she was secretly married to Charles James Fox in 1795; the marriage was publicly
acknowledged in 1802.
Mary Godfrey (1836 fl.)
The half-sister of the husband of Anna May Chichester, Lady Donegal; Miss Godfrey was one
of Thomas Moore's correspondents.
Henry Grattan (1746-1820)
Irish statesman and patriot; as MP for Dublin he supported Catholic emancipation and
opposed the Union.
Robert Grosvenor, first marquess of Westminster (1767-1845)
Of Eaton Hall, one of William Gifford's early patrons; he was a connoisseur of painting,
a Whig MP, and commissioner of the Board of Control. He was created Marquess of Westminster
in 1831.
Elizabeth Lock [née Jennings] (1781-1846)
The daughter of the art collector Henry Constantine (Dog) Jennings (1731-1819); in 1800
she married the painter and connoisseur William Lock.
William Maltby (1764-1854)
A schoolmate and life-long friend of Samuel Rogers; he was a London solicitor and a
member of the King of Clubs. In 1809 he succeeded Richard Porson as principal librarian of
the London Institution.
Richard Porson (1759-1808)
Classical scholar and Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge (1792); he edited four plays
of Euripides.
William Porden (1755-1822)
English architect and father of the poet Eleanor Anne Porden; a student of James Wyatt,
he did work for Royal Pavilion at Brighton.
Henry Rogers (1774-1832)
Son of Thomas Rogers (1735-93) and youngest brother of the poet Thomas Rogers; he was the
head of the family bank, Rogers, Towgood, and Co. until 1824, and a friend of Charles
Lamb.
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
Sarah Rogers (1772-1855)
Of Regent's Park. the younger sister of the poet Samuel Rogers; she lived with her
brother Henry in Highbury Terrace.
Sir Charles Talbot, second baronet (1751-1812)
Of Chart Park in Surrey; he was MP for Weobley (1800-02), Rye (1803-06), and Bletchingly
(1812); he died unmarried and his estate was annexed to Thomas Hope's Deepdene.
Richard Westall (1765-1836)
English poet and illustrator who favored literary subjects and published a collection of
verse,
A Day in Spring and other Poems (1808).
