The Creevey Papers
Henry Brougham to Thomas Creevey, 15 August 1816
“Aug. 15, 1816. Geneva (uninhabitable).
“Dear C.,
“. . . I have been here for some time and in the
neighbourhood. It is a country to be in for two hours, or two hours and a half,
if the weather is fine, and no longer. Ennui comes on the third hour, and
suicide attacks you before night. There is no resource
whatever for passing the time, except looking at lakes and hills,
which is over immediately. I should except Mme.
Stael, whose house is a great comfort.
“You may wish to know the truth as to Mother P. They resolved, under Mrs. Leach’s auspices, to proceed. I
rather think the Chancellor and ministers
were jealous of Mrs. L.; at any rate they were indisposed
to the plan, but on it went, and a formal notification was made to little P.’s husband† and herself. I believe they were to have begun
in Hanover, to
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have something to
show to Bull and his wife and daughter. But steps were also
taken in England. Being advised of this from the
best authority, I deemed it proper, according to the tacticks we have
always adopted, not to wait to be attacked, but to fire a shot of some calibre,
and you will by this time have seen more of it, tho’ you may not have
guessed whence it came. . . . As for Mrs. P.* herself, she
won’t do any more; but the daughter is a strong force and will carry the
old lady through. Mrs. P. is, I believe, among the
Ottomans, but I have no sort of communication with her. . . . Tell Kinnaird that Lord
Byron is living here, entirely cut by the English.”
Queen Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1768-1821)
Married the Prince of Wales in 1795 and separated in 1796; her husband instituted
unsuccessful divorce proceedings in 1820 when she refused to surrender her rights as
queen.
Princess Charlotte Augusta (1796-1817)
The only child of George IV; she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1816 and died
in childbirth the following year.
Charles Kinnaird, eighth baron Kinnaird (1780-1826)
The son of George Kinnaird, seventh baron Kinnaird; he was Whig MP for Leominster
(1802-05) before he succeeded to the title. He was the elder brother of Byron's friend,
Douglas Kinnaird.
Sir John Leach (1760-1834)
Whig MP for Seaford (1806-16) and vice-chancellor (1818-27); he was a much-despised
lawyer for the Prince of Wales, master of the Rolls and deputy-speaker of the House of
Lords, 1827.
Leopold I King of Belgium (1790-1865)
The son of Prince Francis Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; after serving in the Russian
army he married Princess Charlotte in May 1816; in 1831 he was inaugurated as the first
king of the Belgians.
Francis Russell, seventh duke of Bedford (1788-1861)
Son of the sixth Duke (d. 1839); he took an MA from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1808
and served as Whig MP for Peterborough between 1809 and 1812 and for Bedfordshire between
1812 and 1832. He succeeded to the title in 1833.
John Scott, first earl of Eldon (1751-1838)
Lord chancellor (1801-27); he was legal counsel to the Prince of Wales and an active
opponent of the Reform Bill.
Germaine de Staël (1766-1817)
French woman of letters; author of the novel
Corinne, ou L'Italie
(1807) and
De l'Allemagne (1811); banned from Paris by Napoleon, she
spent her later years living in Germany, Britain, and Switzerland.
