A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith
Letters 1819
Sydney Smith to Lady Grey, [4 January 1819]
Holland House. No date.
Dear Lady Grey,
I write from Holland House, where all are very well, except
Charles, who is returned with a fit of
the jaundice; but it is not of any consequence. I scarcely ever
| MEMOIR OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. | 171 |
saw a more pleasing, engaging, natural young man.
I am truly glad to hear you are in good spirits. I believe,
when any serious good quality or wise exertion is required of you, you will
rummage about, and come out with it at last.
We had a large party at dinner here yesterday:—Dr. Wollaston, the great philosopher, who did
not say one word; William Lamb; Sir Henry Bunbury; Palmella, the Portuguese Ambassador; Lord Aberdeen; the Exquisite; Sir
William Grant, a rake and disorderly man of the town, recently
Master of the Rolls; Whishaw, a man of
fashion; Frere; Hallam, of the ‘Middle Ages;’ and myself. In spite of
such heterogeneous materials, we had a pleasant party. Mary is becoming very handsome.
Sir Henry Halford told me that the
Queen’s property was estimated at £150,000, including jewels of every
description. The £28,000 of jewels she received from the King at her marriage,
she has given back to him.
It is reported that the Chancellor wishes to retire, if a successor could be found to
exclude Leach, whom he hates. The seals
are said to have been offered to, and refused by, Sir William Grant; and the Irish
Chancellor is talked of. Lord
—— is suspected to have written some verses himself. He went out
a calculator, and is returned a child of Nature, and probably a lyric bard.
God bless you, dear Lady Grey!
S. S.
Sir Henry Edward Bunbury, seventh baronet (1778-1860)
The son of Henry William Burnbury; during his distinguished military career (1795-1809)
he married a niece of Charles James Fox in 1807; he was under-secretary for war (1809-16),
major-general (1815), and MP for Suffolk (1830).
Charles Richard Fox (1796-1873)
The eldest son of Lord Holland, born illegitimately and thus barred from the peerage; he
was aide-de-camp to William IV, and MP for Calne (1831-32) and Tavistock (1833-34). He was
an antiquary and member of the Society of Dilettanti.
John Hookham Frere (1769-1846)
English diplomat and poet; educated at Eton and Cambridge, he was envoy to Lisbon
(1800-02) and Madrid (1802-04, 1808-09); with Canning conducted the
The
Anti-Jacobin (1797-98); author of
Prospectus and Specimen of an
intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft (1817, 1818).
George Hamilton- Gordon, fourth earl of Aberdeen (1784-1860)
Harrow-educated Scottish philhellene who founded the Athenian Society and was elected to
the Society of Dilettanti (1805); he was foreign secretary (1841-1846) and prime minister
(1852-55).
Sir William Grant (1752-1832)
After education at King's College, Aberdeen and military service in Canada he was a Tory
MP (1790-1812) and master of the Rolls (1801-17).
Henry Hallam (1777-1859)
English historian and contributor to the
Edinburgh Review, author
of
Introduction to the Literature of Europe, 4 vols (1837-39) and
other works. He was the father of Tennyson's Arthur Hallam.
William Lamb, second viscount Melbourne (1779-1848)
English statesman, the son of Lady Melbourne (possibly by the third earl of Egremont) and
husband of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was a Whig MP, prime minister (1834-41), and counsellor
to Queen Victoria.
Sir John Leach (1760-1834)
Whig MP for Seaford (1806-16) and vice-chancellor (1818-27); he was a much-despised
lawyer for the Prince of Wales, master of the Rolls and deputy-speaker of the House of
Lords, 1827.
James Maitland, eighth earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839)
Scottish peer allied with Charles James Fox; he was author of
An
Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth, and into the Means and causes of
its Increase (1804) and other works on political economy.
Lady Mary Elizabeth Powys [née Fox] (1806-1891)
The daughter of Henry Richard Vassall Fox, third baron Holland; in 1830 she married
Thomas Atherton Powys, third baron Lilford.
John Scott, first earl of Eldon (1751-1838)
Lord chancellor (1801-27); he was legal counsel to the Prince of Wales and an active
opponent of the Reform Bill.
Thomas Manners- Sutton, first Baron Manners (1756-1842)
Lord chancellor of Ireland (1807-27); he was the grandson of the third duke of Rutland
and was MP for Newark-on-Trent (1796-1805) and an opponent of Catholic emancipation.
John Whishaw (1764 c.-1840)
Barrister, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; he was Secretary to the African
Association and biographer of Mungo Park. His correspondence was published as
The “Pope” of Holland House in 1906.
William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828)
English physician and scientist; he was senior fellow of Caius College, Cambridge
(1787-1828) and secretary of the Royal Society (1804-16).