The “Pope” of Holland House
John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 6 March 1817
March 6, 1817.
Warburton informs me that he is certainly to
go with Binda to-morrow to Easton Grey. I
have made up a little parcel for him or Binda to take. It
consists of a curious poem called “Wat Tyler,” written by Southey twenty-five years ago upon the Spencean1
principles, two or three chapters of the MS. “Travels of Browne,”2 sent me by
his executor, with a view to publication, and two notes of poor Horner and his last letter, which may be
interesting to you at this time, as well as a letter of Mackintosh from India acquainting me with his project of writing
his history.
I have no doubt you must have been highly gratified by what passed
on Monday in the House of Commons. The tribute to poor Horner’s memory from persons of all descriptions is highly
gratifying to his friends and connections. The close of Romilly’s speech on this melancholy occasion is in a high
strain of excellence.
You will be concerned to hear that Tierney is far from well. He has a complaint of some standing
connected apparently with the liver, for which he takes calomel, and is often
obliged to absent himself from the House. This is a great loss, and a serious
addition to the many disadvantages which the Opposition has lately sustained.
Brougham, it is true, constantly attends,
and will become by degrees the practical leader of the party. But this, for some
time, will be a great source of weakness; for many of them will not act cordially
under such a leader.
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1 Called after Thomas
Spence’s scheme of land nationalisation.
2 Oriental traveller. Was murdered on his way to
Teheran, 1813.
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“Wat
Tyler” is for the library at Easton Grey. It is a great literary
curiosity.1
Giuseppe Binda (1859 fl.)
Originally of Lucca, he was an Italian refugee who from 1815 was employed as secretary
and librarian at Holland House; he emigrated to America and was the U.S.A. consul at
Leghorn.
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).
William George Browne (1768-1813)
English traveler who visited Egypt and Sudan in 1792, Turkey and the Levant (1800-02) and
was killed in Persia while on an expedition to Central Asia.
Francis Horner (1778-1817)
Scottish barrister and frequent contributor to the
Edinburgh
Review; he was a Whig MP and member of the Holland House circle.
Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832)
Scottish philosopher and man of letters who defended the French Revolution in
Vindiciae Gallicae (1791); he was Recorder of Bombay (1803-1812) and
MP for Knaresborough (1819-32).
Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Reformer of the penal code and the author of
Thoughts on Executive
Justice (1786); he was a Whig MP and Solicitor-General who died a suicide.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
Thomas Spence (1750-1814)
Radical pamphleteer and London bookseller who published
Pig's Meat; or,
Lessons for the Swinish Multitude, 3 vols (1794-95).
George Tierney (1761-1830)
Whig MP and opposition leader whose political pragmatism made him suspect in the eyes of
his party; he fought a bloodless duel with Pitt in 1798. He is the “Friend of Humanity” in
Canning and Frere's “The Needy Knife-Grinder.”
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.
