Part 11

In 1784, when Sir Ashton Lever petitioned the House of Commons for a lottery for his museum, Mr. Thomas Waring made the following declaration before the Committee to whom the petition was referred:--“That he had been manager of Sir Ashton’s collection ever since it had been brought to London in the year 1775; that it had occupied twelve years in forming; and that there were upwards of twenty-six thousand articles. That the money received for admission amounted, from February 1775 to February 1784, to about £13,000, out of which £660 had been paid for house-rent and taxes.” Sir Ashton Lever proposed that his whole museum should go together, and that there should be 40,000 tickets at one guinea each.[316]

Few people would believe that so lately as this year, the Duke of Dorset, Lord Winchilsea, Lord Talbot, Colonel Tarleton, Mr. Howe, Mr. Damer, Hon. Mr. Lennox, and the Rev. Mr. Williams played at cricket in an open field near White Conduit House.[317] Who could have conjectured that Du Val’s Lane, branching from Holloway, within memory so notoriously infested with highwaymen that few people would venture to peep into it even in mid-day, should, in 1831, be lighted with gas?[318]

In 1784, Nathaniel Hillier’s[319] collection of prints was sold by Christie: they were well selected as to impression, but much deteriorated in value by Mr. Hillier’s attachment to strong coffee, with which he had stained them. It has been acknowledged by one of the family that, what with the expense of staining, mounting, and ruling, his collection only brought them one-fifth of the cost of the prints in the first instance.

Dr. Samuel Johnson also died this year [1784]; during the time the surgeon was engaged in opening his body, Sir John Hawkins, Knight, was in the adjoining room seeing to the weighing of the Doctor’s tea-pot, in the presence of a silversmith, whom Sir John, as an executor, had called upon to purchase it.[320]

1805.

“Mr. Townley presents his compliments to Mr. West, and requests that, when he sees Mr. Lock[321] at his house, he will be so good as to deliver to him the packet sent herewith, containing two prints from Homer’s head,--Mr. T. not knowing where Mr. Lock lives in town. The drawing representing the ‘Triumphs of Bacchus’ by Rubens,[322] in the eighth night’s sale at Greenwood’s, differing much from the bas-relief in the Borghese Villa, from which Caracci is supposed to have composed his picture of that subject in the Farnese Gallery,[323] Mr. T. has no intention to bid for it.

“PARK ST., WESTMINSTER, _21st Feb. 1787_.”

* * * * *

“MY DEAR SIR,--I return you many thanks for your kind information respecting the sale of the marbles at the late Lord Mendip’s house at Twickenham.[324] Had I been there and in spirits, the fine Oriental alabaster vase would not have been sold so cheap, and would probably have come to Park Street. I should also have probably purchased the medallion of an elderly man over a chimney-piece. I shall be glad to find out who bought it, and at what price. I should also have liked the ancient fountain. Pray, what was it sold for, and who bought it?

“I mean to take a farewell look at the _robaccia_ at Wilton, to verify my former notes on that collection.

“I flatter myself that many bad symptoms of my long disorder begin to abate, though it still, I feel, has strong hold upon me. I shall remain here about a fortnight longer, then return to Park Street.

“If you will give me the pleasure of a line from you, you may direct to me, No. 36, Milsom Street, Bath. I am, sir, ever most faithfully yours, etc.

“C. TOWNLEY.

“BATH, 36, MILSOM STREET, _11th June 1802_.”

1806.

In the month of June this year, the late Atkinson Bush,[325] then of Great Ormond Street, brought to my house Mr. Parton, vestry-clerk of St. Giles’s-in-the-Fields, with a view to obtain such particulars of that parish as I was acquainted with, he being then busily engaged in collecting materials for its history. In the course of conversation, I was astonished to find that it was his intention to have a plan of the parish engraved for his work, purporting to have been taken between the years twelve and thirteen hundred, a period more than two centuries and a half earlier than Aggas’s plan of London, and from which I could not help observing that in my opinion he had most glaringly borrowed. When he assured me he had not, my request was then to know his authority for producing such a plan, but for that question he was not provided with an answer, nor did he appear to be willing to be probed by further interrogatories. To my great astonishment, when Mr. Parton’s book made its appearance, I not only found this plan professing to be between the years twelve and thirteen hundred so minutely made out, with every man’s possession in the parish most distinctly attributed, but every plot of garden so neatly delineated, with the greatest variety of parterres, walks with cut borders, as if the gardener of William III. or Queen Anne had then been living. As Mr. Parton omitted to give any authority for the introduction of so wonderfully early a piece of ichnography, I applied to several leading men in the parish of St. Giles, but could gain no intelligence whatever respecting it: so much for this plan of St. Giles’s parish, as produced by Mr. Parton.[326]

1807.

On the 7th of November of this year, aged 65, died at Rome the celebrated Angelica Kauffmann, who was appointed a member of the Royal Academy by King George III. at its foundation.[327] That she was a great favourite with the admirers of art may be inferred by the numerous engravings from her productions by Bartolozzi and the late William Wynn Ryland.[328] Her pictures are always tasteful, and often well composed, clearly and harmoniously coloured, and extremely finished with a most delicate but spirited pencil. Indeed, her talents were so approved by her brother Academicians, that those gentlemen allotted her compartments of the ceiling in their council-chamber at Somerset Place for decoration, in which most honourable and pleasing task she so well acquitted herself, that her performances are the admiration of every visitor, but more particularly those who possess the organ of colour. She etched numerous subjects; the best impressions are those before the plates were aqua-tinted.

When I was a boy, my father frequently took me to Golden Square to see her pictures, where she and her father had for many years resided in the centre house on the south side. There are several portraits of her, but none so well-looking as that painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, of which there is an engraving by Bartolozzi.

Angelica Kauffmann was a great coquette, and pretended to be in love with several gentlemen at the same time.[329] Once she professed to be enamoured of Nathaniel Dance;[330] to the next visitor she would divulge the great secret that she was dying for Sir Joshua Reynolds. However, she was at last rightly served for her duplicity by marrying a very handsome fellow personating Count de Horn. With this alliance she was so pleased, that she made her happy conquest known to her Majesty Queen Charlotte, who was much astonished that the Count should have been so long in England without coming to Court. However, the real Count’s arrival was some time afterwards announced at Dover; and Angelica Kauffmann’s husband turned out to be no other than his _valet de chambre_. He was prevailed upon subsequently to accept a separate maintenance.[331] After this man’s death she married Zucchi, and settled in Rome. During her residence there, she was solicited by the artists in general, but more particularly by the English, to join them in an application to this country for permission to bring their property to England duty free; and as I possess the original letter which that lady wrote to Lord Camelford[332] upon the subject, I cannot refrain from inserting it.

“MY LORD,--I do not know, if by having lived several years in England, and having the honour to be a R.A., I may be sufficiently entitled to join with the artists of Great Britain in their request, or better to say, in returning thanks to your Lordship for patronising them in a point so very essential, which is to assist them in obtaining the free importation of their own studies, models, or designs, collected for their improvement during their own stay abroad.

“The heavy duty set upon articles of that nature causes that the artist, whose circumstances do not permit him to pay perhaps a considerable sum, must either be deprived of what he keeps most valuable, or buy his own works at the public sale at the Custom House. This I have myself experienced on my coming to England,--and I mention it here, in consequence of the opinion of some of my friends, who think that my assertion, added to what other artists may have reported to that purpose, may be of some use to obtain their object.

“I heard from Dr. Bates,[333] and Mr. Reveley,[334] the architect, how very much your Lordship is inclined to support the earnest supplication drawn up by some of the artists, which proves your Lordship to be a protector of the fine arts, and of those who profess them. Consequently I have some reason to hope that I may not be judged too impertinent for addressing these lines to you. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, my Lord, your Lordship’s most obliged humble servant,

“ANGELICA KAUFFMANN.

“TRINITÀ DE’ MONTI, _the 26th Dec. 1787_.”

This year, my laborious work, entitled _Antiquities of Westminster_, was delivered to its numerous and patient subscribers.[335] The following congratulatory letter is one of the many with which I have been honoured by its extensive and steady friends:--

“LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL CLOSE, _Thursday, 2nd July 1807_.

“Mr. White[336] presents his best respects to Mr. Smith. His precious little box, from some unaccountable delay in Cambridge, did not arrive till yesterday evening, accompanied by a letter, which receives this early acknowledgment. Though Mr. White has not had leisure to inspect critically the literary portion of Mr. Smith’s elegant and splendid volume, yet his whole time since it came has been occupied in studying and admiring its numerous, accurate, and highly finished engravings, which alone give it a superiority to any book of art’s illustration which Mr. White can at present recollect. Mr. Smith’s offer of a few loose prints is peculiarly kind and acceptable; and Mr. White so far avails himself of it.

“Mr. White cannot refrain expressing his concern and astonishment, that Mr. Smith should have experienced so bitter a recession from friendly promises and assistance, as Mr. H. obliged him to feel; at the same time, the candid and unequivocal statement which Mr. Smith has made, must exonerate him from the world’s reproof, and account for the long protraction of the work. Mr. White cannot but indulge the hope, that so noble an addition to our architectural antiquities, so admirable an elucidation of every _precedent_ history of London, will most amply remunerate the pocket, though no success can recompense that anxiety of mind which Mr. Smith has undergone. The beautiful Cathedral of Lichfield has been recently ornamented with some very fine ancient painted windows, from the dissolved convent near Lille. If Mr. Smith would publish them in colours, Mr. White thinks that the subscription would fill rapidly; and if Mr. Smith would but come down and look at them, Mr. White would be happy in extending every accommodation, and rendering every assistance to him. When the windows are known, the plan will be certainly adopted by other artists of inferior competency.”

1808.

On the first of November this year, George Dance, the Royal Academician, signed the dedication page of his first volume of portraits of eminent men drawn in pencil, with parts touched lightly with colour from life, and engraved by William Daniell, A.R.A., now a Royal Academician (he died 1837), consisting of thirty-six in number. The second volume, which also contained thirty-six in number, was published in 1814.[337]

Fuseli, when viewing several of these portraits, was heard by one of Mr. Dance’s sitters to make the following observations upon the likenesses. Of Benjamin West he said, “His eye is like a vessel in the South Sea,--I can just spy it through the telescope;” of that of Joseph Wilton the sculptor, he observed, “How simple are the thinking parts of this man’s head, and how sumptuous the manducatory;” of that of James Barry he made the following declaration, “This fellow looks like the door of his own house;” of that of Northcote he exclaimed, “By _Cot_, he is looking sharp for a rat;” and of that of Sir William Chambers, he observed, drawling out his words, “What a _grate_, heavy, _humpty-dumpty_, this leaden fellow is.”[338]

In this sort of wit Fuseli had a formidable force of gunnery, and his shot seldom missed its destination; however, it cannot shatter the above work, as most of the portraits are of worthies too well known even to need it necessary to engrave their names under them.

The greater portion of these likenesses are highly valuable to the illustrators of Boswell’s _Life of Johnson_, and, indeed, most of the modern biographical publications.

1809.

I cannot more pleasantly close this year than by inserting a copy of one of John Bannister’s bills for his BUDGET;[339] and as the original is now an extreme rarity, I conclude that some of those “_gude folks_” who witnessed the delightful humour displayed by that gifted son of Thespis, may possibly be better enabled to recollect how much they giggled twenty-three years ago.

“Oh the days when I was young!”

The type of the long lines in the original bill, which is of a small folio size, being too small to be read without spectacles, I have necessarily, in some instances, been obliged to increase the number of lines in the following copy.

“THEATRE, IPSWICH.

POSITIVELY FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY.

Patronised by their Majesties, Before whom Mr. Bannister had the honour of performing, At the Queen’s House, Frogmore.

The Public are most respectfully informed, On Wednesday, the 29th of November, 1809, Will be presented,

A MISCELLANEOUS DIVERTISEMENT, With considerable vocal and rhetorical variations, called

BANNISTER’S BUDGET; OR, AN ACTOR’S WAYS AND MEANS!

Consisting of Recitations and Comic Songs; Which will be sung and spoken by MR. BANNISTER, of the late Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

“The above Divertisement is entirely new; the prose and verse which compose it having been written _expressly_ for the occasion of MR. BANNISTER’S TOUR, by Messrs. Colman, Reynolds, Cherry, T. Dibdin, C. Dibdin, Jun., and others.

The whole of the Entertainment has been arranged and revised by MR. COLMAN.

The songs (which Mr. Reeve, Jun., will accompany on the pianoforte,) are principally composed by Mr. Reeve.

PROSPECTUS OF THE DIVERTISEMENT.

“Part I.--Exordium.--Mr. Bannister’s Interview with Garrick.--Garrick’s Manner attempted by Mr. Bannister in a Shaving Dialogue.--Mr. Doublelungs in the Clay-pit.--Macklin’s advice to his Pupils.--The Ship’s Chaplain, and Jack Haulyard, the Boatswain; or, Two Ways of Telling a Story.--Sam Stern.--The Melodramaniac, or Value of Vocal Talent.--Mr. and Mrs. O’Blunder, or, Irish Suicide!

“Part II.--Superannuated Sexton.--Original Anecdotes of a late well-known eccentric Character.--Trial at the Old Bailey.--Cross-Examination.--Counsellor Garble.--Barrister Snip-snap.--Serjeant Splitbrain.--Address to the Jury.--Simon Soaker, and Deputy Dragon.

“Part III.--Club of Queer Fellows!--President Hosier.--Speech from the Chair.--Mr. Hesitate.--Mr. Sawney Mac Snip.--Musical Poulterer.--Duet between a Game Cock and a Dorking Hen.--Mr. Molasses.--Mr. Mimé.--Monotony exemplified.--Mr. Kill-joy, the Whistling Orator.--Susan and Strephon.--Budget closed.

Rotation of Comic Songs to be introduced on this particular occasion.

“IN PART I.

Vocal Medley. Captain Wattle and Miss Roe (by particular desire). Tom Tuck’s Ghost. Song in Praise of Ugliness! The Debating Society.

“IN PART II.

The Deserter; or, Death or Matrimony. Miss Wrinkle and Mr. Grizzle, and The Tortoiseshell Tom Cat.

“IN PART III.

THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO; OR, FINE FLEECY HOSIERY. The Marrow-fat Family. Jollity Burlesqued, and Beggars and Ballad-singers.

The doors to be opened at six o’clock, and to begin precisely at seven. Boxes, Upper Circle, 4s.; Lower Circle, 3s.; Pit, 2s., Gallery, 1s.

N.B. Care has been taken to have the Theatre well aired.”

1810.

My reader will find by the following copy of a paper written by the Rev. Stephen Weston, B.D.,[340] and read at the Society of Antiquaries’ meeting, 25th January 1810, that the term Swan-_hopping_ is to be considered a popular error.

“It appears in the Swan-rolls, exhibited by the Right Honourable Sir Joseph Banks, that the King’s were doubly marked, and had what was called two nicks, or notches. The term, in process of time, not being understood, a double animal was invented, unknown to the Egyptians and Greeks, with the name of the Swan with Two Necks. But this is not the only ludicrous mistake that has arisen out of the subject, since Swan-upping, or the taking up of Swans, performed annually by the Swan companies, with the Lord Mayor of London at their head, for the purpose of marking them, has been changed by an unlucky aspirate into Swan-hopping, which is not to the purpose, and perfectly unintelligible.”[341]

1811.

In the summer of this year, the Earl of Pembroke allowed me to copy a picture at Wilton, painted by the celebrated architect, Inigo Jones. It is a view of Covent Garden in its original state, when there was a tree in the middle. The skill with which he has treated the effect is admirable.

There is also, in that superb mansion, a companion picture of Lincoln’s Inn Fields by the same artist.

1812.

The political career of John Horne Tooke, Esq., is well known, and the fame of his celebrated work, entitled the _Diversions of Purley_, will be spoken of as long as paper lasts.

In the year 1811 a most flagrant depredation was committed in his house at Wimbledon by a collector of taxes, who daringly carried away a silver tea and sugar caddy, the value of which amounted, in weight of silver, to at least twenty times more than the sum demanded, for a tax which Mr. Tooke declared he never would pay. This gave rise to the following letter:--

“TO MESSRS. CROFT AND DILKE.

“GENTLEMEN,--I beg it as a favour of you, that you will go in my name to Mr. Judkin, attorney, in Clifford’s Inn, and desire him to go with you both to the Under Sheriff’s Office, in New Inn, Wych Street.

“I have had a distress served upon me for taxes, at Wimbledon, in the county of Surrey.

“By the recommendation of Mr. Stuart, of Putney, I desire Mr. Judkin to act as my attorney in replevying the goods; and I desire Mr. Croft and Mr. Dilke to sign the security-bond for me that I will try the question.

“Pray show this memorandum to Mr. Judkin.

“JOHN HORNE TOOKE.

“WIMBLEDON, _May 17th, 1811_.”

As Mr. Croft and Mr. Dilke were proceeding on the Putney Road, they met the tax-collector with the tea-caddy under his arm, on his way back with the greatest possible haste to return it, with an apology to Mr. Tooke,--that being the advice of a friend. The two gentlemen returned with him, and witnessed Mr. Tooke’s kindness when the man declared he had a large family.[342]

On the 18th of March this year (1812), Mr. Tooke died, at his house at Wimbledon. He was put into a strong elm shell. The coffin was made from the heart of a solid oak, cut down for the purpose. It measured six feet one inch in length; in breadth at the shoulders, two feet two inches; the depth at the head, two feet six inches; and the depth at the feet, two feet four inches. This enormous depth of coffin was absolutely necessary, in consequence of the contraction of his body. His remains were conveyed in a hearse and six, to Ealing, in Middlesex, attended by three mourning coaches with four horses to each. It was Mr. Tooke’s wish to have been buried in his own ground; but to this the executors very properly made an objection.[343]

1813.

At the sale of the effects of the Rev. William Huntington (vulgarly called the “Coal-heaver”), which commenced on the 22nd of September, and continued for three following days, at his late residence, Hermes Hill, Pentonville, one of his steady followers purchased a barrel of ale, which had been brewed for Christmas, because he would have something to remember him by.[344]

1814.

Mr. John Nixon, of Basinghall Street, gave me the following information respecting the Beefsteak Club. Mr. Nixon, as Secretary, had possession of the original book. Lambert’s Club was first held in Covent Garden Theatre, in the upper room, called the “Thunder and Lightning;” then in one even with the two-shilling gallery; next in an apartment even with the boxes; and afterwards in a lower room, where they remained until the fire. After that time, Mr. Harris insisted upon it, as the playhouse was a new building, that the Club should not be held there. They then went to the Bedford Coffee-house next door. Upon the ceiling of the dining-room they placed Lambert’s original gridiron, which had been saved from the fire. They had a kitchen, a cook, and a wine-cellar, etc., entirely independent of the Bedford Coffee-house. When the Lyceum, in the Strand, was rebuilt, Mr. Arnold fitted up a room for the Beefsteak Club, where it remained until the late fire.

The society held at Robins’s room was called the “Ad Libitum” Society, of which Mr. Nixon had the books; but it was a totally different society, quite unconnected with the Beefsteak Club.[345]

1815.

One of the biographers of Mrs. Abington, the first actress who played the part of Lady Teazle in the _School for Scandal_, and so justly celebrated in characters of ladies in high life, states that she died on the 1st of March 1815, in her 84th year. Another informs us that she died on the 4th; but neither of the writers say where she died, or where she was buried; on inquiry, I found that she died at Pall Mall.[346] Of all the theatrical ungovernable ladies under Mr. Garrick’s management, Mrs. Abington, with her capriciousness, inconsistency, injustice, and unkindness, perplexed him the most. She was not unlike the miller’s mare, for ever looking for a white stone to shy at. And though no one has charged her with malignant mischief, she was never more delighted than when in a state of hostility, often arising from most trivial circumstances, discovered in mazes of her own ingenious construction.[347]