The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-01-23 00:00:00

GEORGE BUDBDODDINGTOft

George Bubb Dodtlington was eon of an apothecary at
Carlisle, by a sister or near relation of Mr. Doddington,
of Eastberry, in Dorwtshire, Who bequeathed him his
estate and name, with obligation to finish the vast scat at
Esstberry, designed by Vanbrugh ; and which was pulled
down by Richard Grenville, first Earl Temple, on whom
it was entailed, in case of Bubb's having no issue, as hap-
pened. Doddington had a great deal of wit, great know-
ledge of business, and was an able speaker in Parliament,
though an affected one, and though most of his speeches
were premeditated. Ile was, as his diary shows, vain,
fickle, ambitious, servile, and corrupt. Early in his life
he had been devoted to Sir Robert Walpole, and in an
epistle to him, which Pope quotes. had professed himself,
" In power a servant, out of power a friend."
At a much later period of life he published an epistle to
Lord Bute, whom he styled Pollio. Mr. Wyndham, editor
of his Diary, wrote to Dr. Joseph Virarton, in 1784, that
he had found, among Dothlington's papers, an old copy of
that poem, but inscribed to Sir Robert Walpole. He fell
more than once under the lash of Pope, who coupled him
with Sir William Yonge in this line—
" The flowers of Bubbington, and flow of lionge."
Soon after the arrival of Frederick Prince of %Vales in
England, Doddington became a favourite, and submitted
to the Prince's childish horse-play, being once rolled up in
a blanket, and trundled down stairs ; nor was he negligent
in paying more solid court, by lending his Royal Hi"hness
money. " This is a strange country, this England (said
his Royal Highness once); " I am told Doddington is
reckoned a clever man ; yet I got 5,000 L out of him this
morning, and he has no chance of ever seeing it again."
He was, however, supplanted by George, afterwards Lord
Lyttleton, and again became a :ourner and_placeman at
St. James's ; but once more reverted so the Prince at the
period where his Diary commences. Pope was not the
only poet who diverted the town at Deddingerm's expense.
Sir Charles Ilanbury ridiculed him in a irelleknown
dia-
logue with Gyles Earle, and in &ballad entitled "A Grub
upon Bubb." Dr. Young, on the contrary, wbo was intro.
nosed by him, has dedicated to him one of his satires on
the love of fame, as Lyttelton had inscribed one of his
cantons on the progress of love. Glover and Ralph ware
also countenanced by him, as the Diary chews.
Doddington's own wit was very reedy. We will men-
tion two instances:—Lord Sundon was Commissioner of the
Treasury with him and IVinnington, and was very dull.
One Thursday, as they left the Board, Lord Sundon
laughed heartily at something Doddington said; *and when
gone, Winningron said, " Doddington you are very un-
grateful ; you call Sundon stupid andslow, and yet you
we how quick he took what you said." "Oh, no!" replied
Doddington, " he was only laughing now at what I said
last treasury day."—Mr. renchard, a neighbour, telling
him, that though his pinery was expensive, he contrived,-
by applying the fire and the dung to other purposes, to
make at so advantazeous, that he believed he got a shilling
by every pine-apple he ate. " Sir," said Doddington, " I
would eat them for half the money."—Doddington was
married to a Mrs. Ikhan, whom he was supposed to keep.
Though secretly married, he could not own her, as he then
did, till the death of Mrs. Strawbridge, to whom he had
given a promise of marriage, under the penalty of ten
thousand pounds. He had long made love to the latter,
and at last obtaining an morignation, found her lying on a
couch. However, he only fell on his knees, and after
kissing her hand for some time, cried out "(fit, that I had
you but in a wood !" "In a wood!" exclaimed the dis-
appointed dame; "What would you do then? Would you
rub me?" It was on this Mrs. Strawbridge that was made
the ballad—

" My Strawberry—my strawberry
Shall bear away the bell;
to the burthen and tune of which, Lord Bath, many
years afterwards, wrote his sung on " Strawberry Hill."
Doddington had no children. His estate descended to
Lord Temple, whom he hated, as he did Lord Chatham,
against whom he wrote a pamphlet to expose the expedition
to llochfort. _ _ _

Nothing was more glaring in Doddington than his want
of taste, and the tawdry ostentation in his dress and fur-
niture of his houses. At Eastberry, in the great bed-
chamber, hung with the richest red velvet, was pasted on
every panel of the velvet, his crest (a hunting horn sup-
ported by an eagle) cut out of gilt leather. The foot-cloth
round the bed was a mosaic of the pocket-flaps and cuffs
of all his embroidered clothes. At Ilsiiimersmith, at his
; house, since called linindenburgh House, his meat, us
pebbles, was stuck into the cents', of the turf before
his door. The chimney-piece was burg with opts, re-
presenting icicles round the fire, and a bed of purple, lined
with orange, was crowded by a dome of peacock's. feathers.
The great gallery, to which was a beautiful door of white
marble, ►npportel by two columns of fops /0-znii, was not
only filled with busts and statues, but had an inlaid floor
of marble ; and all this weight was above stairs.
One day, showing it to Edward, Duke of York, Dod-
dington said, " Sir, some perrins tell me that this room
ought to he on the ground." " Be easy, Mr. Doddington,"
replied the Prince, " it ‘. ill aeon be there."
In the approach to his villa at Hammersmith, Mr. Dod-
dington erected a noble obelisk, surmounted by an urn of
bronze, to the memory of his wife, who died before him.
Mr. Wyndham, his heir, took down the obelisk and sold
it. The Diary was certainly not published entire. A
gentleman, who saw it five years before it was published,
missed some particular passages.
' Another instance of ikeldington's wit.—Dorldington was
very Icthargic: falling asleep one day after dinner, with
Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham, the general, the latter
reproached Dorlditigton with his drowsiness; Itoddington
denied havingibeen asleep, and to prove he had nut, of-
fered to repeat all Lord l'obliam had been saying. Cob-
ham challenged him to do so. Doddington repeated a
story, and Lord Cobham owned he had -been telling it.
" %Yell," said loddington, "and yet I slid not hear a word
of it ; but I went to sleep because I knew that about this
time of day you would tell that story."

Kt x 6.8 BENCH.—The four Judges sat yesterday in the
chamber adjoining the Sessions House, to bear term ques-
tions in arrcar.
Mr. Cramer is to lead, and Mr. Greatorex to conduct
the Choral Fund Concert.