Florizel's Folly - free ebook by John Ashton

FLORIZEL'S FOLLY

BY JOHN ASHTON AUTHOR OF 'SOCIAL LIFE IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE,' 'MODERN STREET BALLADS,' ETC., ETC. WITH THIRTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON CHATTO &amp; WINDUS 1899 [Pg x] [Pg xi]...

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CHAPTER I.

Early history of Brighthelmstone—Domesday Book—The Flemings—The French harry the South Coast—At Brighthelmstone—Defences of the town—Rumours of the Spanish Armada—Armament of the town. WE who live in these latter days, when Brighton, the 'London-on-the-Sea,' has a standing population of 115,873, [1] and contains 19,543 houses, can hardly realize its small beginnings. That it was known to the Romans there can be no doubt, for, about 1750, an urn was dug up near the town, which contained a thousan

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CHAPTER II.

Escape of Charles II. to France—The story of it—The 'Royal Escape'—Brighton in 1730—In 1736—In 1761—Forty-five different ways of spelling the name of the town. THERE is nothing particularly noteworthy with regard to Brighthelmstone until we come to the embarkation of Charles II. in July, 1651, from that place for France, the culmination of his wanderings after the disastrous Battle of Worcester. There are several accounts of this event, including one dictated by the King himself to Samuel Pepys;

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CHAPTER III.

Brighton becomes fashionable—Duke of Cumberland there—His character—The Royal Marriage Act—His influence over the Prince of Wales—The Duke and the King—Bad conduct of the Prince of Wales. BRIGHTON rapidly became fashionable, and we find the announcement on June 1, 1761, of Lord Abergavenny, Lord Bruce, Mr. and Lady Jane Evelyn, Lady Sophia Egerton, etc.; and on June 25, 1775, arrived here the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, Ladies Caroline and Eliza Spencer, etc. I

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CHAPTER IV.

Mrs. Robinson—Her story of Florizel and Perdita—Her after-career—Coming of age of the Prince of Wales—His new establishment—His first visit to Brighton—His and Colonel Hanger's adventure. WHO was this Mrs. Robinson? She was of Irish extraction, and was born in Bristol in 1758. In 1774 she married an attorney's clerk, named Robinson; and, owing to pecuniary difficulties, she went on the stage, appearing at Drury Lane as Juliet on December 10, 1770, a part for which her fascinating beauty well fit

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CHAPTER V.

Memoir of, and anecdotes about, George Hanger. THE HON. GEORGE HANGER (afterwards the fourth and last Lord Coleraine) was at one time an especial friend of the Prince. He was educated at Eton and Göttingen, and was for some little time an officer in the first regiment of foot guards, which regiment he soon left in disgust at someone being promoted over his head. He then received an appointment from the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel as Captain in the Hessian Jäger Corps, then serving in America, and

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CHAPTER VI.

The Prince goes to Brighton for his health—Description of Brighton in 1784—Royal visitors—The Prince takes a house—Weltje—Sam House—Fox and the Prince—Brighton in 1785. IN 1784 the Prince of Wales had a somewhat serious illness, and we read in the Morning Herald of July 16 that 'His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, having been advised by his Physicians to sea bathing, we are informed from good authority, that his Royal Highness will set out on Monday next for Brighthelmstone. Mr. Weltje, the

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CHAPTER VII.

The Prince's acquaintance with Mrs. Fitzherbert—His courtship and marriage—Satirical prints thereon. THIS year was exceedingly fateful to Prince Florizel, for, in it, he made the acquaintance of a lady whose connection with him influenced his whole life. This was Maria Anne Fitzherbert, daughter of Walter Smythe, Esq., of Brambridge, in the county of Hants, second son of Sir John Smythe, Bart., of Eske, in the county of Durham, and Acton Burnell, in Shropshire. She was born in July, 1756, and ma

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CHAPTER VIII.

The Prince's debts—Appeal to the King—His retrenchments—'The Jovial Crew, or Merry Beggars'—Satirical prints—Help from Parliament—Schedule of his debts. EARLY in 1786 matters financial came to a crisis with Florizel. Notwithstanding his income of nearly £70,000, he had managed in less than three years to get some £300,000 in debt. Harassed by his creditors, he had no resource left but to apply to his father, but from him he got naught but good counsel. In this dilemma Pitt was applied to, and as

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CHAPTER IX.

Fox's denial of the marriage—Once more at Brighton—Again in 1788—The Prince at a fatal prize-fight—His birthday—Dress at Brighton—The Prince leases his house at Brighton—Unfilial conduct of the Prince—Probability of a Regency. BUT how about Fox's denial of the Prince's marriage with Mrs. Fitzherbert? was that to pass unnoticed? Certainly not, and there was a slight disturbance in Florizel's matrimonial establishment, which may as well be told in Lord Stourton's suave diction. 'The first signal i

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CHAPTER X.

The Prince as a musician—A bon-mot of his—Lady Lade—Her husband, Sir John—The Prince's pecuniary difficulties—His dealings with his jeweller—The latter's story—Another financial mess. The King being ordered to Weymouth, the Prince left, early in July, for Brighton. We do not hear much of him there, and more of what we read is pleasant. Fitzgerald [53] says: 'On one of the evenings at the Pavilion (one of Sir P. Francis's daughters reports) his Royal Highness, after dinner, having proposed music,

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CHAPTER XI.

Rowlandson and Brighton—Poem on the Prince's birthday, 1790—Lord Barrymore—Anecdotes respecting him and his family. FROM the pencil of Rowlandson the caricaturist, who with his friend Wigstead, a Bow Street magistrate, went a trip to Brighton in 1789, we have an excellent picture of the Pavilion, as it then was, and a view of the Steyne. Their opinion of the building is that 'the tout ensemble is, in short, perfect Harmony. The whole was executed by Mr. Holland, under the immediate inspection an

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CHAPTER XII.

The Duke of Norfolk, and anecdotes respecting him—The Duke of Queensberry, and anecdotes—Charles Morris—The Prince out shooting—A grand review—French émigrés —Smuggling—The Prince's birthday, 1792—Poem on the émigrés . ANOTHER of the Prince's companions, until they quarrelled, was Charles Howard, eleventh Duke of Norfolk, who possessed all the habits and attributes of a hog. [64] Slovenly and dirty in his attire, he was rarely washed, but when he was drunk, and then by his servants; and the stor

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CHAPTER XIII.

The émigrés —Duchesse de Noailles—The nuns—Camp at Brighton—The Prince as a soldier—His debts—Interview with the King—Breaks with Mrs. Fitzherbert—Her account—Satirical prints—Newspaper paragraphs. ABOUT this time the émigrés poured into Brighton, and happy were those who could thus save their lives. Here is a contemporary account, given in the Sussex Weekly Advertiser , September 3, 1792: 'Brighton once favoured the escape of a sovereign from his enraged subjects. The former town is now become

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CHAPTER XIV.

Another camp at Brighton—The Prince's second marriage—His debts—Parliamentary debate thereon—Prince and Princess at Brighton—'Moral Epistle from the Pavilion at Brighton to Carlton House'—Manners at Brighton, 1796—Description of the town. EARLY in the summer of 1794 another encampment took place at Brighton, about a mile and a half to the west of the town, as it then was. It consisted of about 7,000 men, and did not break up until the second week in November. The Prince was at the Pavilion in Ma

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CHAPTER XV.

Reconciliation of the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert—Her scruples, etc.—The Prince at Brighton—Satirical prints—The Prince and the Pavilion—Increase of income—The Prince and his regiment—A race—Guests at the Pavilion—The Prince and his daughter. IT was in this year that the separation of the Prince and the titular Princess of Wales was complete, and Florizel's heart (if he had such a thing) went back to his wife. Let us hear Lord Stourton's account of their reconciliation: 'When she thought her con

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CHAPTER XVI.

The case of Miss Seymour—Satirical prints thereon—The Prince at Brighton, 1806—His birthday—The Green Man—Visit of the Princess Charlotte. IN 1805 the Prince was much at Brighton, but we hear but little of him except in connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert's guardianship of Miss Mary Seymour, a child of whom the Prince of Wales was very fond, and Lord Stourton tells the story in a pleasant way: 'A circumstance now took place, which ended by blasting all her happy prospects, and, finally, terminated

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CHAPTER XVII.

Final rupture between the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert—That lady and William IV.—Her kindly relations with the Royal Family—Her death—The King's illness—The Regency—Visitors at the Pavilion—Queen Charlotte there—The 'Royal Rantipoles.' THE episode of Miss Seymour indirectly led to the final separation of the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert, which was mainly brought about by her false friend, Lady Hertford. Lord Stourton, speaking of the Mary Seymour incident, says: 'This long negotiation, in which th

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CHAPTER XVIII.

The Regent and Admiral Nagle—A quiet time at the Pavilion—The Regent's extravagance—His yacht—Sham fight and caricature thereon—A cruise to the French coast—Royal visitors—The Regent's statues—'High life below stairs,' etc.—Satirical prints—Closing days—Last appearance at the Pavilion. THE Regent was always being satirized by the publication of some of his own puerilities, or those of his suite, who, of course, took their tone from him. The Brighton Herald is responsible for the following anecdo

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CHAPTER XIX.

The books by Nash and Brayley on the Pavilion—Description and history of the building—Its exterior—Entrance hall—Red Drawing-room. HE left behind him a more abiding monument of his 'folly' than the building itself in a magnificent folio volume of etchings, plain and coloured, a task which he entrusted to Nash, the architect, who employed the artistic assistance of Wilks, Moore, and the elder Pugin, especially the latter, and it took five years (1820 to 1825) to complete. I have reserved the desc

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CHAPTER XX.

The Chinese Gallery—The Music Room—The Yellow Drawing-room—The Saloon—The Green Drawing-room. 'THE Chinese Gallery which ranges immediately behind the Saloon and its communicating apartments, is 162 feet in length, and 17 feet wide. This space is partially separated into five divisions, of unequal extent and elevation, by trellis work in imitation of bamboo. 'The central division is surrounded by a Chinese Canopy of similar trellis work, hung with bells, and surmounted by a coved ornamental ceil

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CHAPTER XXI.

The Banqueting Room—The Library—Royal Bedroom—North and South Galleries—Queen Adelaide's apartments—Great Kitchen—Chapel—Stables—Riding House. ' THE BANQUETING ROOM . 'IN its general plan, dimensions, and principal architectural features, this apartment nearly corresponds with the Music Room; but the decorations and ornamental work are entirely different, although equally impressive in effect, from the good taste displayed in their well harmonized combinations, and in the professional ability wh

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