Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 1 (of 2)Howitt, William
History
Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Howitt, William
Literary landmarks -- Great Britain; Poets, English -- Homes and haunts
In the house are, of course, many interesting and valuable works of art;
a great portion of them memorials of the distinguished men who have been
accustomed to resort thither. In one room is a portrait of Charles James
Fox, as a child, in a light blue dress, and with a close, reddish,
woolen cap on his head, under which show lace edges. The artist is
unknown, but is supposed to be French. The countenance is full of life
and intelligence, and the "child" in it is, most remarkably, "the father
of the man." The likeness is wonderful. You can imagine how, by time and
circumstance, that child's countenance expanded into what it became in
maturity. There is also a portrait of Addison, which belonged to his
daughter. It represents him as much younger than any other that I have
seen. In the Gilt Room are marble busts of George IV. and William IV. On
the staircase is a bust of Lord Holland, father of the second earl and
of Charles Fox, by Nollekens. This bust, which is massy, and full of
power and expression, is said to have brought Nollekens into his great
repute. The likeness to that of Charles Fox is very striking. By the
same artist there are also the busts of Charles Fox, the late Lord
Holland, and the present earl. That of Frere, by Chantry, is very
spirited. There are also, here, portraits of Lord Lansdowne, Lord John
Russell, and family portraits. There is also a large and very curious
painting of a fair, by Callot, and an Italian print of it.
In the library, down stairs, are portraits of Charles James Fox--a very
fine one; of the late Lord Holland; of Talleyrand, by Ary Scheffer,
perhaps the best in existence, and the only one which he said that he
ever sat for; of Sir Samuel Romilly; Sir James Mackintosh; Lord Erskine,
by Sir Thomas Lawrence; Tierney; Francis Horner, by Raeburn, so like Sir
Walter Scott by the same artist, that I at first supposed it to be him;
Lord Macartney, by Phillips; Frere, by Shee; Mone, lord Thanet;
Archibald Hamilton; late Lord Darnley; late Lord King, when young, by
Hoppner; and a very sweet, foreign fancy portrait of the present Lady
Holland. We miss, however, from this haunt of genius, the portraits of
Byron, Brougham, Crabbe, Blanco White, Hallam, Rogers, Lord Jeffery, and
others. In the left wing is placed the colossal model of the statue of
Charles Fox, which stands in Bloomsbury Square.
In the gardens are various memorials of distinguished men. Among several
very fine cedars, perhaps the finest is said to have been planted by
Charles Fox. In the quaint old garden is an alcove, in which are the
following lines, placed there by the late earl:
"Here Rogers sat--and here for ever dwell
With me, those pleasures which he sang so well."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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