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44 Chatsworth 206: GD to LS, April 18, 1778.
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45 The following notice appeared in the London Chronicle on November 26, 1778: “On Tuesday next will be published, in Two Volumes, 12 mo. price 5s sewed, or 6s bound. ‘The Sylph: A Novel.’ Printed for T. Lowndes in Fleet Street, where may also be had, just published, in 5 vols. ‘Evelina, a Novel,’ price 7s, 6d. sewed.” Evelina, or A Young Lady’s Entrance into the World had first appeared anonymously in January, and was an immediate success. The clamour to know the author was so great that the first-time novelist was forced to step out from obscurity and reveal herself to be Fanny Burney. She was still unmarried at twenty-six and somewhat shy, but within a few months Mrs. Thrale, who knew her father, Charles Burney, had introduced her to all the notable figures on the literary scene. Thomas Lowndes, Fanny’s publisher, was so pleased with her sales that he deliberately advertised The Sylph to make it appear to be one of hers. This little commercial ploy outraged the Bur-neys, and Charles Burney ordered Lowndes to stop. Their anger was not merely pique at his selling techniques but also genuine fear over the harm The Sylph might do to Fanny’s reputation. Unlike Evelina, The Sylph was less a novel than an exposé of the corrupting mores of the ton.
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46 Chatsworth 32: GD to LS, Oct. 16–22, 1774.
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47 K. Balderston, ed., Thraliana, The Diary of Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale (Later Mrs Piozzi), 1776–1809 (Oxford 1951), I, p. 363, Jan. 20, 1779.
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4: A POPULAR PATRIOT
1 London Chronicle, 43, June 4–6, 1778.
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2 Ibid., June 13–16, 1778.
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3 BL Althorp G287: GD to Lord Al-thorp, May 4, 1778.
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4 Chatsworth 212: GD to LS, May 6–12, 1778.
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5 Morning Post, Saturday July 18, 1788.
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6 Ibid., Wednesday Sept. 23, 1778.
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7 BL Althorp F123: Lady Clermont to LS, circa August 1778.
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8 Chatsworth 182: GD to LS, August 21, 1777.
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9 BL Althorp F123: Lady Clermont to LS, circa August 1778.
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10 Chatsworth 218: LS to GD, July 30, 1778.
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11 Chatsworth 223: LS to GD, August 20, 1778.
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12 Reginald Blunt, Mrs Montagu (Edinburgh 1923), II, p. 58.
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13 BL Althorp F8: Lord Althorp to LS, Oct. 20, 1778.
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14 Chatsworth 235: GD to LS, Nov. 4, 1778.
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15 Chatsworth 248: GD to LS, Oct. 12–14, 1779.
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16 Chatsworth 233: GD to LS, Oct. 26, 1778.
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17 SNRA Douglas-Home MSS TD95/54: diary of Lady Mary Coke, June 28, 1778.
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17 Ibid., Dec. 17, 1778.
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19 Duke of Argyll, ed., Intimate Society Letters of the Eighteenth Century (London 1910), I, p. 267: Lady Sarah Lennox to Lady Sarah O’Brien, Feb. 1779.
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20 SNRA Douglas-Home MSS TD95/54: diary of Lady Mary Coke, Dec. 3, 1778.
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21 Chatsworth 236: GD to LS, Dec. 4, 1778.
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22 Chatsworth 237: LS to GD, Dec. 5, 1778.
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23 SNRA Douglas-Home MSS TD95/54: diary of Lady Mary Coke, Dec. 11, 1780.
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24 Chatsworth 237: LS to GD, Dec. 5, 1778.
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25 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, Sept. 15, 1779.
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26 Ibid., Sept. 30, 1779: “The gallant conduct of Capt. Garner of the Fly sloop in the late engagement with the two French Cutters, cannot be sufficiently extolled. Having exhausted all his ammunition, he ordered a boat out, in which he rowed on board the packet to procure more and appeared before the noble passengers on the deck with one side of him almost covered with the blood of that brave officer, his master Mr Armourer, who was killed close by him. Lord Spencer here addressing him said he had given the strongest testimony of his courage, and therefore begged he ‘would no longer contend with a force so superior at the hazard of his ship and crew, for it was of very little consequence whether the Duchess of Devonshire, Lady Spencer, and himself, were carried into France or not.’—‘It may be of no consequence to your Lordship,’ replied the brave Garner, ‘but it is of the utmost consequence to me, and therefore you shall not be taken while I have life, by G—!’ ”
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27 Chatsworth 244: GD to LS, Oct. 1–3, 1779.
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28 Chatsworth 246: GD to LS, Oct. 6–10, 1779.
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29 Chatsworth 253: GD to LS, Oct. 21, 1779.
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30 BL Althorp F121: Lord Frederick Cavendish to LS, Nov. 11, 1779.
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31 Chatsworth 248: GD to LS, Oct. 12–14, 1779.
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32 Chatsworth 252: LS to GD, Oct. 1779.
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33 PRO 30/29/4/7, f. 74: Miss R. Lloyd to Lady Stafford, July 8, 1780.
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34 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, April 16, 1781.
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35 Chatsworth 287: GD to LS, May 9, 1780.
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36 Chatsworth 284: LS to GD, May 1, 1780.
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37 Chatsworth 281: LS to GD, April 26, 1780.
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38 Chatsworth 287: GD to LS, May 9, 1780.
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39 BL Althorp F9: Lord Althorp to LS, April 10, 1780.
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40 BL Althorp G287: GD to Lord Al-thorp, May 9, 1780.
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41 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, March 21, 1781.
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42 PRO 30/29/4/7, f. 77: Miss R. Lloyd to Lady Stafford, Sept. 7, 1780.
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43 Chatsworth 321: Lady Harriet Spencer to Miss Shipley, circa Oct. 1780.
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44 Ibid.
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45 PRO 30/29/4/7, f. 76: Miss R. Lloyd to Lady Stafford, August 24, 1780.
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46 Chatsworth 306: GD to LS, July 28, 1780.
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47 BL Althorp F125: Miss Lloyd to LS, Oct. 30, 1775.
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48 Chatsworth 269: Edmund Burke to GD, March 17, 1780. The excitement surrounding the Duke’s speech offended those who were unimpressed by the Cavenish wealth. Mrs. Thrale wrote in her diary, “what a Bustle they make about the Duke of Devonshire’s speaking, one would think it was Balaam’s Ass.” K. Balderston, ed., Thraliana, The Diary of Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale (Later Mrs Piozzi), 1776–1809 (Oxford 1951), VI, p. 434: March 26, 1780.
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49 Chatsworth 279: GD to LS, April 24, 1780.
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50 Chatsworth 280: GD to LS, April 25, 1780.
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51 Chatsworth 287: GD to LS, May 9, 1780.
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52 F. O’Gorman, The Rise of Party in England (London 1975), p. 420.
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53 Ibid.
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54 Henry Wheatley, The Historical and Posthumous Memoirs of Sir Nathaniel Wraxall (London 1884), V, p. 371.
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55 The relationship fits easily within the patterns of the Prince’s l
ove life. The first time he fell in love was over one of his sister’s attendants, Mary Hamilton, granddaughter of the Duke of Hamilton. Like all the women he ever fancied, she was several years older than he. She had no idea of his passion until he bombarded her with daily letters. The rather shy and upright twenty-three-year-old was shocked by her unwanted suitor’s intemperate ravings—he loved her “beyond the idea of everything that is human.” He sent a lock of his hair and requested she return one of hers in the engraved locket he had provided. After a few weeks of enduring the brunt of his extreme passion, she managed to convince him that his suit was futile and he agreed to address her as “friend and sister.” Calling himself her dearest brother, he sought her advice on everything, but especially on clothes and even went so far as to send her patterns from his tailor. His attentions abruptly ceased when he met Perdita, and they rarely spoke again. As a model, this early relationship makes the Prince’s later infatuation with Georgiana plausible.
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56 Chatsworth 401.1: Lady Melbourne to GD, circa June 1782. Lady Melbourne managed to keep the affair going for almost two years, and in 1784 gave birth to his son, George. The newspapers only really began to pass comment when she and Geor-giana helped the Prince to refurbish Carlton House in 1783. That gave the Morning Herald the opportunity to write slyly, “the alterations now making at Carlton House . . . by Lady Melbourne, has the guidance of most of the erections on this spot.” Lady Melbourne profited from the liaison in many ways, not least in having her husband made a Gentleman of the Bedchamber.
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57 Chatsworth 297: GD to LS, June 5, 1780.
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58 Chatsworth 289: GD to LS, June 7, 1780.
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59 Chatsworth 303: GD to LS, June 9, 1780.
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60 Chatsworth 296: GD to LS, May 30, 1780.
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61 C. Price ed., The Letters of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Oxford 1966), I, p. 135: R. B. Sheridan to GD, Sept. 19, 1780.
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5: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS
1 1 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, Jan. 19, 1781.
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2 Carlisle MSS J14/1/558: W. Fawkener to Lord Carlisle, March 2, 1781.
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3 BL Althorp F123: Lady Clermont to LS, June 8, 1780.
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4 Chatsworth 329: LS to GD, Feb. 14, 1781.
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5 Chatsworth 323: GD to LS, Dec. 21, 1780.
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6 Chatsworth 371: LS to GD, Oct. 4, 1781.
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7 Chatsworth 325: GD to LS, Feb. 12, 1781.
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8 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, March 21, 1781.
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9 Ibid., March 24, 1781.
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10 Chichester R. O. Lord Bessborough MSS 231: Dorothy, Duchess of Portland to Lord Duncannon, April 1, 1781.
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11 Ibid., April 3, 1781.
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12 Chatsworth 261: LS to GD, Nov. 17, 1779.
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13 Chatsworth 369: LS to GD, Sept. 29, 1781.
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14 Carlisle MSS J/14/1/267: George Sel-wyn to Lord Carlisle, May 28, 1781.
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15 Colonel George Hanger, The Life, Adventures, and Opinions of Colonel George Hanger (London 1801), II, p. 126.
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16 S. Rogers, Recollections of the Table Talk of Samuel Rogers (London 1856), p. 190.
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17 SNRA Douglas-Home MSS TD95/54: diary of Lady Mary Coke, June 17–22, 1781.
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18 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, June 11, 1781.
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19 Chatsworth 362: GD to LS, Sept. 3–12, 1781.
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20 N. Mckendrick, J. Brewer, and J. H. Plumb, eds., The Birth of a Consumer Society (London 1982), p. 112.
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21 Ibid. Georgiana’s popularity served many purposes. Authors frequently dedicated their books to her with an eye to associating their work with fashion. She did not have the heart to refuse such dedications although sometimes the work was abominable. “A thousand thanks for Mr Garrick’s very pretty verses,” wrote Mrs. Mon-tagu, disgusted by the dross sometimes associated with Georgiana. “I was glad to see something address’d to the Duchess of Devonshire of which wit and good nature would make her amends for the austerity and dullness of some things in prose which had been addressed to her Grace.” Reginald Blunt, Mrs Montagu (Edinburgh 1923), II, p. 18; Mrs. Montagu to Mrs. Vesey, June 1, 1777.
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22 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, Dec. 3, 1781.
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23 P. G. Thomas, Lord North (London 1976), p. 111.
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24 Carlisle MSS J14/1/337: George Sel-wyn to Lord Carlisle, March 1782.
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25 Ibid., March 22, 1782.
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26 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, March 30, 1782.
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27 Carlisle MSS J14/1/345: George Sel-wyn to Lord Carlisle, March 21, 1782.
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28 Nathaniel Wraxall, Posthumous and Historical Memoirs of My Own Time (London 1904), II, p. 196.
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29 Basil Cozens-Hardy, ed., The Diary of Silas Neville, 1767–1788 (Oxford 1950), p. 29.
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30 London Chronicle, April 2–4, 1782.
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31 Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, May 21, 1782.
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32 Chatsworth 387: LS to GD, May 22, 1782.
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33 Carlisle MSS J/14/1/570: James Hare to Lord Carlisle, Feb. 11, 1782.
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34 Chatsworth 433: Annecdotes Concerning HRH the Prince of Wales, Sept. 1782.
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6: THE NEWCOMER
1 The Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser erroneously reported that month that Georgiana was pregnant, but there is no mention in Georgiana’s letters of a pregnancy. Lady Mary Coke had heard she was pregnant in November and the papers hinted at it in January. It is likely that Georgiana miscarried before the spring: she would not have been allowed on to the hustings with Charles Fox if she had been pregnant.
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2 Chatsworth 390: GD to LS, May 22–24, 1782.
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3 Chatsworth 393: GD to LS, June 1, 1782.
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4 Chatsworth 397: GD to LS, June 8, 1782.
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5 Dorothy Stuart, Dearest Bess (London 1955), p. 2.
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6 It was only when Frederick Hervey was offered the Bishopric of Derry that the family had their first permanent home. Once safely installed, the new Bishop indulged his heterodox interests. He was good about employing Irish rather than English clergy and, as one would expect from a friend of Voltaire, he despised religious bigots. But he spent as little time as possible at his duties. One of his greatest pleasures was to play humiliating tricks on unsuspecting victims. Once he entertained the fattest clergymen of his acquaintance, and after feeding them a sumptuous dinner announced a competition: a race across his park and the winner would receive a newly vacant, and plum, living. He lined them up outside while they groaned and shivered and sent them running off into a bog, where they almost drowned in the thick oozing mud. After much crying and floundering about in the darkness they managed to climb back on to the bank, and returned wet and filthy to the house. They found their horses waiting for them and the door locked. It was this sort of behaviour which confirmed that the Bishop
was a true Hervey.
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7 Chatsworth 532.4: Lady Elizabeth Foster [henceforth Bess] to GD, circa Sept. 1782.
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8 Brian Fothergill, The Mitred Earl (London 1988), p. 47.
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9 Ibid., p. 84.
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10 Caroline Grosvenor, The First Lady Wharncliffe and Her Family (London 1927), I, pp. 9–10.
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11 Ibid.
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12 The paid companion was the only bona fide job for an upper-class indigent. Often she was a poor, distant relation of the family who received no regular salary but bed and board, and the occasional cast-offs. She dined with the family, was expected to amuse or keep quiet when the occasion demanded, fetched, carried, listened and generally undertook anything that was tedious. An outsider was hired on the basis of her personality and her willingness to please, hence the paid companion’s reputation for sycophancy.
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