Some Old Time Beauties.
by Thomson Willing.
HER GRACE OF DEVONSHIRE
The Dashing d.u.c.h.ess,--the impulsive, ebullient beauty whose smile swayed ministers, and for whose favor princes were beggars! A loveliness of manner, as of feature, such seductive color,--glowing carnations,--and such golden-brown hair, with a fine figure, made up an opulent personality, than which no more consummate type of beauty has been preserved to us by painter or poet.
Georgiana Spencer was the daughter of Lord Spencer, afterwards first Earl Spencer; but her impulsiveness, her waywardness, and improvidence were a legacy from her grandfather, "Jack" Spencer, the grandson and special favorite of the beautiful Sarah, d.u.c.h.ess of Marlborough. Her "Torismond," she called him. His was a career of profligacy, a course of error and extravagance. His mother was Lady Sunderland, known in society as "the little Whig," from her small stature and her persistent politics. Her party badge was always worn,--the black patch on the left side of the face, as distinguished from the Tory fashion of wearing it on the right side. So Georgiana came legitimately by her beauty, her Whiggish politics, and her versatile vivacity of manner, as well as her improvidence and indiscretion.
But her mother"s strong character was a potent influence. She was the daughter of the Right Honorable Stephen Poyntz, and was of high repute for generosity, for sensibility, for charity, and for courteous dignity of demeanor. We hear of Georgiana being a beautiful child; and Reynolds as well as Gainsborough, both made painted record of that childish beauty. Her brightness of mind gave her an interest in art, in music, and in literature; and, though not proficient in the practice of either, she had more than the society woman"s knowledge of them. At seventeen, she married William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, ten years her senior. His was a temperament antipathetic to hers,--unsympathetic, unimpressionable, and taciturn, yet withal of the Cavendish characteristic persistency of purpose and honest intent.
The d.u.c.h.ess at once became a queen of society in the Carlton House Court. Devonshire House was an a.s.sembly place for the Whigs; and its lovely mistress was the hostess of many a statesman exalted by his wit, as of many a politician with following by virtue of his station.
Like all radical companies, it was a motley mixture that found welcome there. The Prince of Wales was a devotee. The then shining Sheridan was a frequenter; but with the name of Fox has that of the d.u.c.h.ess been more a.s.sociated than of aught other. Her supremacy among these companions was not in the manner of the French Salon leaders,--while wit, knowledge, and tact were hers, she lived not by learning, but by her liveliness and jollity. She was not the scholar in politics, but the politician among scholars out of school.
It was a roystering, revelling company; and political as well as personal penury became the portion of many as the result of these improvident and profligate days. The episode of the d.u.c.h.ess"s career which is most known, is her purchase, by a kiss, of a vote for Fox when she was championing his cause in an election, and canva.s.sing for votes in company with her sister, Lady Duncannon. It was said, "never before had two such lovely portraits appeared on a canva.s.s." A butcher bargained for his vote by asking a kiss from the lovely lips of the seductive d.u.c.h.ess. The price was paid, amid the plaudits of the crowd.
An Irish elector, impressed by the fair appellant"s vivacity, exclaimed: "I could light my pipe at her eyes."
Fox was elected for the Tory borough of Westminster, and great was the rejoicing at Carlton House. A _fete_ was given on the grounds the day following, and the ordinarily well-apparelled Prince appeared in a superb costume of the radical colors, blue and buff. This was the period of the d.u.c.h.ess"s greatest glory, as well as of her most superb charm of personality; and it was about this period that Gainsborough painted his perennially delightful presentment of her. She was then twenty-seven years of age, and had been married ten years. Wraxall wrote what is probably the best contemporary description of her: "The personal charms of the d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire const.i.tuted her smallest pretensions to universal admiration; nor did her beauty consist, like that of the Gunnings, in regularity of features, and faultless formation of limbs and shape; it lay in the amenity and graces of her deportment, in her irresistible manners, and the seduction of her society. Her hair was not without a tinge of red; and her face, though pleasing, yet, had it not been illuminated by her mind, might have been considered an ordinary countenance."
It is said of Gainsborough that, while painting the d.u.c.h.ess, "he drew his wet pencil across a mouth all thought exquisitely lovely, saying, "Her Grace is too hard for me.""
The lady later knew the cuts of comment, and the keen pain of justifiable jealousy. The rival in her husband"s attentions was Lady Elizabeth Foster, daughter of the Earl of Bristol, a brunette of handsome presence, and at the death of Georgiana, in 1806, she became the second wife of the Duke. There was an apparent friendship between the ladies, and Lady Elizabeth for a time lived under the same roof as the d.u.c.h.ess.
Madame d"Arblay, in 1791, visited her at Bath, and made record then of her introduction to the d.u.c.h.ess, and indicated the premonition of trouble in this wise. "Presently followed two ladies; Lady Spencer, with a look and manner warmly announcing pleasure in what she was doing, then introduced me to the first of them, saying, "d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire, Miss Burney." She made me a very civil compliment upon hoping my health was recovering; and Lady Spencer then, slightly, and as if unavoidably, said, "Lady Elizabeth Foster."" Gibbon said of the latter, that, "No man could withstand her; and that if she chose to beckon the Lord Chancellor from his woolsack, in full sight of the world, he could not resist obedience." Reynolds painted a portrait of her, showing a bright-eyed, smiling lady, with close-curled hair, of girlish appearance. In Samuel Rogers"s "Table Talk" are several mentions of the famous Georgiana, and especially one which tells of her love for gambling. "Gaming was the rage during her day; she indulged in it, and was made miserable by her debts. A faro-table was kept by Martindale, at which the d.u.c.h.ess and other high fashionables used to play. Sheridan said that the d.u.c.h.ess and Martindale had agreed that whatever they two won from each other should be sometimes _double_, sometimes _treble_, what it was called. And Sheridan a.s.sured me that he had handed the d.u.c.h.ess into her carriage when she was literally sobbing at her losses, she having lost fifteen hundred pounds, when it was supposed to be only five hundred pounds." A life such as she then led surely affected her appearance. In 1783, Walpole wrote: "The d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire, the empress of fashion, is no beauty at all. She was a very fine woman, with all the freshness of youth and health, but verges fast to a coa.r.s.eness."
The offspring of the d.u.c.h.ess Georgiana were: Georgiana Dorothy, afterwards Countess Carlisle, whose letters were lately published, and exhibit an original observation and a terse style of record; Henrietta Elizabeth, later Countess Granville; and a son, who succeeded to the Dukedom. About the latter"s birth was some mystery; insinuation was active. The d.u.c.h.ess had little liking for domestic life, so normal neglect of child may have been construed into an unnatural dislike.
Her son never married. Through the stress of the home infelicity, her beauty waned; but her bearing and breeding kept her paramount in her set. She is known to this later generation only as a superb beauty who stands with such opulent charm of costume, and of fine hauteur of manner, amid the n.o.ble groves of Chatsworth--as the once potential original of Gainsborough"s greatest portrait. "The bust outlasts the throne, the coin Tiberius."
A most pathetic tribute to the beauty of the d.u.c.h.ess was paid by "Peter Pindar" (Dr. Wolcot), who addressed "A Pet.i.tion to Time in favor of the d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire," and implored the Inexorable thus:--
"Hurt not the form that all admire.
Oh, never with white hairs her temple sprinkle!
Oh, sacred be her cheek, her lip, her bloom!
And do not, in a lovely dimple"s room, Place a hard mortifying wrinkle.
"Know shouldst thou bid the beauteous d.u.c.h.ess fade, Thou, therefore, must thy own delights invade; And know, "t will be a long, long while Before thou givest her equal to our isle.
Then do not with this sweet _chef-d"oeuvre_ part, But keep to show the triumph of thy art."
A dramatic fate has befallen the original canvas. In 1875, it was sold at auction, and was bought by a firm of dealers for the then highest price paid for a single picture in England. The publicity gained by this was taken advantage of by the purchasers to exhibit the picture.
One morning when the gallery was opened, the frame only was there; the picture had vanished. The canvas is lost.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MARY, THE HONORABLE MRS GRAHAM by GAINSBOROUGH]
LOVELY MARY CATHCART
Like the happiest countries that have no history, the tranquil life of joyous content leaves little to chronicle. Only in the n.o.bility of character of a husband who grieved her loss for years, and in his strong dignity, and devotion to her memory, do we get a hint of the gracious and good lady whom Gainsborough has made immortal for us.
And in that phrase of her lifetime, "lovely Mary Cathcart," is a whole biography of benignity and beauty. She came of one of the most ancient and n.o.ble families in Scotland, and was the daughter of the ninth Baron Cathcart, called "Cathcart of Fontenoy." Her brother William became the tenth Baron, and afterwards the first Earl Cathcart. He had studied law, but abandoned it for the army, and had a gallant career therein; becoming a lieutenant-general in 1801, and commander-in-chief of the expedition to Copenhagen in 1807; afterwards acquiring reputation as amba.s.sador for several years at St. Petersburg. He was perhaps the earliest of British n.o.blemen to marry American beauties; having wedded the daughter of Andrew Elliott of New York, in 1779.
In November, 1774, there was rejoicing among the retainers of the House of Cathcart, for there was to be a double wedding. The eldest daughter, "Jenny," was married to the Duke of Athole, that same Duke who became a friendly patron of Burns, and in reference to whom the poet writes, when addressing some verses to him: "It eases my heart a good deal, as rhyme is the coin with which a poet pays his debts of honor and grat.i.tude. What I owe to the n.o.ble family of Athole, of the first kind, I shall ever proudly boast; what I owe of the last, so help me G.o.d, in my hour of need I shall never forget."
The second sister, the Hon. Mary, was married to Sir Thomas Graham of Balgowan, a descendant of the Marquis of Montrose and of Graham of Claverhouse. The youngest sister, Louisa, later became Countess of Mansfield, and her portrait, by Romney,--a seated profile figure with flowing draperies,--is that artist"s most masterly work.
After eighteen years of happy married life, she died childless; one of those good women that were--
"True in loving all their lives,"--
"a surpa.s.sing spirit whose light adorned the world around it." Her husband grieved greatly. He was ordered to travel to divert his despair. He visited Gibraltar, and there the dormant martial spirit of his ancestors was aroused by his environment. Though then forty-three years of age, he immediately entered the army as a volunteer. He rapidly rose in his profession, and had an especially brilliant career in the Peninsular War. In 1811, he became the hero of Barossa, and in the same year was made second in command to the Duke of Wellington. He was created Lord Lynedoch of Balgowan, Perthshire, and frequently was thanked by Parliament for his services. Sheridan said, "Never was there a loftier spirit in a braver heart." And alluding to his services during the retreat to Corunna, he said, "Graham was their best adviser in the hour of peril; and in the hour of disaster, their surest consolation." Scott eulogizes him in the poem, "The Vision of Don Roderick," in the lines,--
"Nor be his praise o"erpast who strove to hide Beneath the warrior"s vest affection"s wound, Whose wish Heaven for his country"s weal denied; Danger and fate, he sought, but glory found.
"From clime to clime, wher"e"r war"s trumpets sound, The wanderer went; yet, Caledonia, still Thine was his thought in march and tented ground; He dreamed mid Alpine cliffs of Athole"s hill, And heard in Ebro"s roar his Lynedoch"s lovely rill.
"O hero of a race renowned of old, Whose war-cry oft has waked the battle swell!"
Old Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh, wrote of a late Duke of Athole: "Courage, endurance, stanchness, fidelity, and warmth of heart, simplicity, and downrightness, were his staples." They are ever the staples of the Scotch character, and they were all pre-eminent in Sir Thomas. His life was n.o.ble, and his affection was faithful to its early troth.
A pathetic history attaches to this picture of Mrs. Graham: When its subject died, the sorrowing husband had it bricked up where it hung, and it was only by an accident that it was discovered at his death, in 1843. It now hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland at Edinburgh.
The present reproduction shows but a part of the picture, the figure being full length. It has been excellently reproduced in etching by both Flameng and Waltner.
In 1885, a most comprehensive exhibition of Gainsborough"s works was made at the Grosvenor Gallery in London. At it was noted the important part this painter had played in perpetuating the lineaments, bearing, graces, and gownings of the great persons of the latter half of the eighteenth century.
"The lips that laughed an age agone, The fops, the dukes, the beauties all, Le Brun that sang and Carr that shone."
There was seen The Hon. Miss Georgiana Spencer, at the age of six, and again a later portrait of her as the d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire,--she of the then irresistibly seductive manners,--and her mother, Countess Spencer, of whom Walpole wrote as being one of the beauties present at the coronation of George III., in 1761. There, too, was Anne Luttrell, daughter of Simon Luttrell, Baron Irnham, who married, first, Christopher Horton, and, secondly, the Duke of c.u.mberland, brother of the king. Of her Walpole wrote: "There was something so bewitching in her languishing eyes, which she could animate to enchantment if she pleased, and her coquetry was so active, so varied, and yet so habitual that it was difficult not to see through it, and yet as difficult to resist it." And here was another widow who captivated royalty, Mrs. Fitzherbert, who was a daughter of Walter Smythe of Bambridge, Hampshire, and married, first, Edward Weld, secondly, Thomas Fitzherbert of Synnerton, Staffordshire (who died in 1781), and was said to have been married to the Prince of Wales (George IV.) in 1785. And there also was a more notorious beauty, Miss Grace Dalrymple, afterwards Mrs. Elliott,--though divorced later, and becoming the mistress of various aristocrats, notably the Duke of Orleans.
The d.u.c.h.ess of Montagu, granddaughter of the great Duke of Marlborough (one of the Churchills,--a family prolific of beauties), was there seen. Several pictures of the painter"s wife (who was a Miss Margaret Burr), of his youngest daughter, Mary, afterwards Mrs. Fischer, and one of his friend, Miss Linley, went to augment this superb congregation of beauties shown. Portraits of Garrick,--that intensely interesting Stratford portrait,--Earl Spencer, Pitt, Earl Stanhope, Colonel St. Leger, George IV., Duke of c.u.mberland, George III., Earl Cathcart, Canning, Dr. Johnson, Fox, and several showings of himself, made up a body of work unsurpa.s.sed in importance by that of the president of the Academy himself.
Gainsborough was born in 1727; he moved to Bath, in its most brilliant period, in 1760. He died in 1788, but had ceased contributing to the Academy four years before, because of a disagreement with the hanging committee. His portraits of ladies were always picturesque and individual, each differentiated from each of his own works as well as from that of other painters.
This portrait of the Hon. Mrs. Graham is delicate in color, yellowed somewhat by its long seclusion from the light,--and will remain one of the most delightful and _spirituel_ creations of the old-English school.
[Ill.u.s.tration: EMMA, LADY HAMILTON by ROMNEY]
Lady Hamilton
With the name of Lady Hamilton is ever a.s.sociated the names of England"s most famous sailor and of one of her most famous painters.