The “Pope” of Holland House
John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 22 December 1815
Dec. 22, 1815.
It is some time since I last wrote, but I have had very little to
communicate. London has been very empty and society very stagnant. Lord and Lady
Holland were absent for a long time at Woburn. Since their return I
have been at Holland House once, and am going there again for a few days at
Christmas, and afterwards to Lord King’s.
No particular intelligence has been received from France by Lord
Holland, except a distinct confirmation of the hardships inflicted
on the Protestants in the South. It is very true, as the Courier states, that this
rancour is connected with political opinions; but it is no
sort of excuse for the charge of disaffection being always brought in such cases by
the ruling ecclesiastical faction, and often with good reason, as they take care by
their mode of treating them that the charge shall at length be true. Witness the
primitive Christians and the heretics of early ages, the French Protestants during
the League, and the Irish Catholics of our own times.
I am glad you were pleased with Dr.
Holland, who seems also to have been successful at Bowood and with
the Carnegies. The defects of his manner are very apparent,
and extend in some degree to his character. They have excited a strong prejudice
against him in the minds of some of our friends. I allude particularly to Abercromby and Warburton. But I can pardon these defects on the ground of his
great information, and general good temper and agreeableness. I might have been
more vigorous
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| Lord Holland and Duke of Wellington |
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some
years since; but it is time for me to ask myself the question of Horace: “Lenior et melior fis accedente
senecta?”1
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Somewhat of this temper is necessary in advanced life, to
counterbalance its other unavoidable defects.
The Duke of Norfolk’s
death has made our friend’s brother2 the premier peer of England, and, in consequence of a
settlement made some time since, gives an annuity of £1,500 to our friend for his life, and a handsome provision for
his children. But the Duke left him nothing by his will, having for a considerable
time past been on bad terms with him. The Duke saw Dr.
Milner, the Catholic, frequently during his illness, and appeared to
show some partiality for the faith of the family; but he was not reconciled to the
Church by any overt act.
James Abercromby, first baron Dunfermline (1776-1858)
The son of Lt.-Gen Sir Ralph Abercromby; he was MP for Midhurst (1807), Calne (1812-30)
and Edinburgh (1832), judge-advocate general (1827) and speaker of the House of Commons
(1835-39); he was raised to the peerage in 1839.
Elizabeth Fox, Lady Holland [née Vassall] (1771 c.-1845)
In 1797 married Henry Richard Fox, Lord Holland, following her divorce from Sir Godfrey
Webster; as mistress of Holland House she became a pillar of Whig society.
Henry Richard Fox, third baron Holland (1773-1840)
Whig politician and literary patron; Holland House was for many years the meeting place
for reform-minded politicians and writers. He also published translations from the Spanish
and Italian;
Memoirs of the Whig Party was published in 1852.
Sir Henry Holland, first baronet (1788-1873)
English physician and frequenter of Holland House, the author of
Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia etc. during 1812 and
1813 (1814) and
Recollections of Past Life (1872). His
second wife, Saba, was the daughter of Sydney Smith.
Horace (65 BC-8 BC)
Roman lyric poet; author of
Odes,
Epistles, Satires, and the
Ars Poetica.
Bernard Edward Howard, twelfth duke of Norfolk (1765-1842)
Educated at the English College at Douai, in 1815 he succeeded his third cousin, Charles
Howard, eleventh duke (d. 1815), and took his seat in Parliament after passage of the Roman
Catholic Relief Bill of 1829.
Edward Charles Howard (1774-1816)
English chemist; educated at Douai, he was the younger brother of the twelfth duke of
Norfolk. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1799.
Peter King, seventh baron King (1775-1833)
Whig politician, son of the sixth baron; he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College,
Cambridge before succeeding to the title in 1793. His son William married Ada Byron.
John Milner (1752-1826)
Educated at the English College at Douai, he published
The History,
Civil and Ecclesiastical, and Survey of the Antiquities of Winchester, 2 vols
(1798-1801) and was appointed bishop of Castabala in 1803.
Henry Warburton [Eliot Warburton] (1784-1858)
Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a Radical MP for Bridport in
Dorset (1826-41) who took an interest in bodysnatching.
The Courier. (1792-1842). A London evening newspaper; the original proprietor was James Perry; Daniel Stuart, Peter
Street, and William Mudford were editors; among the contributors were Samuel Taylor
Coleridge and John Galt.
