The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 23 June 1834
“23rd.
“. . . As I arrived first to dinner at Paul Methuen’s,‡ and Brougham arrived second, I had him
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out on a balcony to myself in no time. I stated
William Roscoe’s case as one that he was
actually bound to attend to—that he professed to be the patron of
literary merit—that Roscoe’s
father’s fame in that department was unrivalled [?
unquestioned]—that, moreover, he was his friend, and had boasted to me of
corresponding with him to his dying day—that he
[Roscoe] had been his principal supporter in our
Liverpool contest, and in short that, after a most meritorious life, he had
been reduced by misfortune to nearly beggary. Brougham
admitted all this, but said he had nothing to give worth Wm.
Roscoe’s acceptance. In a short time afterwards he took me
out on the balcony again, and said:—‘I have been thinking
Wm. Roscoe’s case over, and I have a place that would suit him. They will have it that I must have
an Accountant-General for my new Bankruptcy Court, and Wm.
Roscoe shall have it. It will be £1200 a year for
life.’—Now was there ever? I take it for granted he will jib and
fling over both William and myself; mais nous verrons! It will be curious to
see what invention he will resort to in order to defeat this gratuitous offer.
“We had a most jolly day and very good company.
Mrs. Methuen is a sister of Ly. Radnor, and a great improvement upon
her—I don’t mean in morals; I know nothing upon that subject,
except that the parent female stock, who was there in the evening, has been
somewhat slippery in her day.”
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
Thomas Creevey (1768-1838)
Whig politician aligned with Charles James Fox and Henry Brougham; he was MP for Thetford
(1802-06, 1807-18) Appleby (1820-26) and Downton (1831-32). He was convicted of libel in
1813.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
Paul Methuen, first baron Methuen (1779-1849)
The son of Paul Cobb Methuen; he was Whig MP for Wiltshire (1812-19) and North Wiltshire
(1832-37), raised to the peerage in 1838. He was a friend of John Cam Hobhouse.
William Roscoe (1753-1831)
Historian, poet, and man of letters; author of
Life of Lorenzo di
Medici (1795) and
Life and Pontificate of Leo X (1805). He
was Whig MP for Liverpool (1806-1807) and edited the
Works of Pope,
10 vols (1824).
