The Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart
Chapter 23: 1853-54
John Gibson Lockhart to Charlotte Lockhart Hope, 18 April 1854
“Sussex Place, April 18, 1854.
“Dearest Charlotte,—I
shall be very happy to dine with you on the appointed day, when I hope to see
M. M.1 in
great beauty and attraction, and her papa and mamma strong and well. I have
seen Lady Hope, and was delighted with
her vigorous looks—also Lady F. H.,
who seems as jolly as ever, all woes notwithstanding. I have nothing to say of
myself but that I don’t feel as if I were at all the worse for being
here—if anything, the contrary, and take what share I can in the great
quest of a shelter; but I daresay your arrival will find that still on foot. It
seems to be extremely hard to get at anything decent on decent terms anywhere,
and actually impossible in the civilised regions of the town. Christie is not yet seen by me—he is at
Beaumanoir. Lady
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| 388 | LIFE OF J. G. LOCKHART. | |
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Davy is in her white hairs and no roses,
but in very fair spirits—quite herself indeed. Oh! on Easter Sunday I was
good boy and went to the old ——’s”
(the family best taken homeopathically), “with the usual cod and
pigeon-pie, &c., &c.; he rayther doited, I
fear—all the rest as of yore. Scotty very nice. So
is neighbour Daisy here—very.
Poor Mrs. Grant seems much shaken and
aged. Frank (Grant)
has now finished his me to his own satisfaction, and threatens engraving; but I
have not had any other opinion. My own is that there is very little resemblance
to the senior whom I should shave every morning.
“I am not surprised, but sorry, to hear whispers of
a separation between —— —— and her
virtuoso, whose neglects have at last exhausted her patience; but I shall have
particulars whenever I meet the Eastlakes, and till then mum.”
Jonathan Henry Christie (1793-1876)
Educated at Marischal College, Baliol College, Oxford, and Lincoln's Inn; after slaying
John Scott in the famous duel at Chalk Farm he was acquitted of murder and afterwards
practiced law as a conveyancer in London. He was the lifelong friend of John Gibson
Lockhart and an acquaintance of John Keats.
Lady Jane Davy [née Kerr] (1780-1855)
Society hostess who in 1798 married Shuckburgh Ashby Apreece (d. 1807) and Humphry Davy
in 1812.
Lady Elizabeth Eastlake [née Rigby] (1809-1893)
Art critic, translator, and reviewer for the
Quarterly; she
married Sir Charles Lock Eastlake in 1849. She was related to Lady Palgrave through her
mother, Anne Palgrave.
Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878)
Scottish artist known for his portraits and sporting scenes; he was president of the
Royal Academy (1866-78).
Lady Georgina Alicia Hope [née Brown] (d. 1855)
The youngest daughter of George Brown of Ellerton, Roxburghshire; in 1805 she married
General Sir Alexander Hope (1769–1837) of Rankeillour and Luffness.
Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott [née Hope-Scott] (1852-1920)
Of Abbotsford, author, the daughter of James Robert Hope-Scott and granddaughter of Sir
Walter Scott; in 1874 she married the Hon. Joseph Constable-Maxwell.
