Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel Parr
Ch XII. 1816-1820
Samuel Parr to Sir Matthew Wood, 1 November 1816
“Hatton, November 1, 1816.
“My Lord,—Suffer me to thank your Lordship for inviting
me to your dinner on the 9th of this month; and to assure you that, with
pleasure and with pride, I should obey your polite and friendly summons, if I
were not detained in Warwickshire by numerous and important avocations. I have
not been an inattentive observer of the events, which occurred during your
mayoralty; and most heartily do I rejoice that your peculiar merit has procured
for you peculiar honours among your fellow-citizens, and is not only applauded
by your zealous supporters, but acknowledged by your most determined opponents.
Amidst the general and well-deserved praise of the public, you, perhaps, will
allow me, as a man of letters, as an Englishman, and as a teacher of
Christianity, to bear my testimony to such firmness, mingled with moderation,
as you have manifested in your political principles, to such activity guided by
good sense, in your official measures, to indignation so just against the
profligate and obdurate, and to compassion so unfeigned towards the desolate
and oppressed.—To vigilance, integrity, and benevolence in all the arduous
duties of your station, you add other ornamental and other useful qualities;
such, I believe, as are not very often found collectively in the chief
magistrate of our metropolis. ![]()
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Yes, my Lord, in Mr. Wood, I discern the generosity of a
Barnard without his coarseness, the
hospitality of a Beckford without his
ostentation, the intrepidity of a Sawbridge without his turbulence, and the sagacity of a
Townsend without his asperity.—I see
that persons of the most exalted rank and the most unblemished characters
attend your private parties; and, therefore, if the members of administration
stand aloof from your public entertainments, you, my Lord, will smile at their
illiberality; and every honourable man in the country will despise their
perverseness and their rudeness. I trust, my Lord, your example will have its
full influence upon the spirit and conduct of your successors; and I am sure
that history will faithfully record the virtues, of which your contemporaries
now experience the extensive and most beneficial effects. I shall not fail to
drink a bumper to your health on the 9th of November; and I know that some of
my enlightened neighbours are disposed to pay the same tribute of respect to
your Lordship, as a wise magistrate and a steady patriot. When employed to
christen a child of your worthy precursor, Mr.
Combe, I once spent a very happy day with the late Mr. Fox at the Mansion-house; and in the
expectation of equal happiness, I shall give you an opportunity of asking me to
your table, if I visit the capital, in the course of the ensuing year. I beg of
you to present my best compliments to the Lady
Mayoress, and to Mr. and Miss P—; and glad
shall I be, my Lord, to welcome you at my parsonage, whensoever you find your
way into War-![]()
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wickshire. I have the honour to be, &c.—
Sir John Barnard (1685 c.-1764)
The son of a Quaker merchant, he converted to Anglicanism and was a long-serving Whig MP
for London (1722-61).
William Beckford (1709-1770)
Jamaican sugar magnate, Lord Mayor of London, and MP for London (1754-70). He was the
father of the novelist.
Harvey Christian Combe (1752-1818)
He was a wealthy brewer, friend of Charles James Fox, alderman, and Whig MP for London
(1796-1817).
Charles James Fox (1749-1806)
Whig statesman and the leader of the Whig opposition in Parliament after his falling-out
with Edmund Burke.
John Sawbridge (1732-1795)
He was a London Distiller, radical MP, lord mayor, and supporter of John Wilkes and
Charles James Fox.
James Townshend (1737-1787)
Educated at Hertford College, Oxford, he was a London politician, MP, and supporter of
John Wilkes.
Maria Wood [née Page] (1770 c.-1848)
The daughter of John Page; in 1796 she married Sir Matthew Wood, first baronet,
politician and Lord Mayor of London (1815-16).
Sir Matthew Wood, first baronet (1768-1843)
English politician and reformer; he was Lord Mayor of London (1815-16, 1816-17) and was
MP for the city of London (1817-43).
