The Sun.
London, England, 1824-12-25 00:00:00

MISS FOOTE TO COLONEL BERKELEY.

" Monday, June 28, 1824.
" I write this in Keppel-street, where I have returned with
Undine—the other I have left in the care of the nurse. The
enclosed letter from my father will, I trust, satisfy you as to the
nature of Mr. Hayne's proposals. Now, to some points in
your last letter, which are yet unanswered. My breaking my
resolutions respecting my return to the stage, will be from ne-
cessity and not entirely from choice. But I cannot think you
are justified in concluding that I may render myself an unfit
guardian for my children, by also changing those principles
and feelings of propriety which I trust will ever regulate my
future conduct ; and believe me I shall never shrink from your
strictest scrutiny into my conduct at all times."

ma. FOOTE TO COLONEL nEaxEr.EY.
46 Monday, June 28, 1824.
" Sir,—Having considered you as the plighted husband of
my daughter for these six years past, 1 did not communicate to
her the many honourable and advantageous overtures made to
me during that period to obtain her -hand in marriage; but
your conduct having lately taken so very unexpected a turn,
I have, since her return to town, promulgated to her the pro-
posals of Mr. Hayne, which proposals are of a petfectly honour-
able nature—viz.—marriage, with a good settlement; and it
will consequently remain for her consideration whether she will
accept them or not. These circumstances (at her particular
request) I now make known to you; and shall only add, that
the comfort and respectability of an only. daughter are naturally
objects most dear to a tond and devoted father; and these mo-
tives alone influence the conduct of, Sir, your very
_obedient
humble servant, 4, SAMUEL FOOTE."

It is here worthy of remark, that Colonel Berkeley never
made any provision whatever for Mr., Mrs., or Miss Foote,
w nor as he ever asked to do such a thing, nor did ho ever make
any offer of the sort; neither had Miss Foote any allowance
whatever from hire, nor has she now; and the presents which
have been given to her by him, from time to time, do not ex.
teed in value 1001. In the whole.
On Tuesday, the 29th of June, while Miss Foote and her
mother, ts.c., were preparing to meet Mr. Bayne, at the Opera,
at eight o'clock, according to appointment, two letters were
I brought to her house from CO/012e1 Berkeley—one addressed to

Mr. Foote, and the other to Miss Foote,—of which, with the
answers thereto, the following are copies : _ _

COLONEL BERKELEY TO MR. FOOTE.
hfoorvo the
expected
lastec tesdix
that years, " Berkeley:house, Spring.gardens, June 29, 1824.
" Sir—l have received your letter of yesterday's date. If
you did consider me as the • plighted husband' of your daughter
oul tub.ointii4k Ihmovigehcto,mimn
uthoaictaqteudaltio m
ty,,fae theirly
fact of those many • honoufable and advantageous overtures'
which were made for her hand during that period, and likewise
the various times and opportunititts which the said ovetture.
makers must have er&yed in cultivating her acquaintance and
obtaining that knowledge of her good. hualiues which most
overture-makers have, before they ask the hand of a lady in
marriage.
" I can only account for your having totally omitted to se.
quaint.me with this, the information having reached you (as
John Thornhty er says' at sonic of your hours not set apart
for business.' However, to the proposal now in question. I
have loved your daughter sincerely. That affection is not one
jot abated, and though I may lament her conduct, end cen-
sure yours, you shall find that I will work as zealously for her
future and permanent welfare as either you or her pother-
You have stated that 31r.liayne has actually proposed marriage,
with a good settlement. If this be the case, and illaria thinks
that her happiness would be furthered by accepting his preP°'
gals, I pledge myself most solemnly to you, that intead of
throwing any obstacle in the way, I will do all in my Tower to
bring the affair to so honourable a conclusion. yet will rot
t
be trifled with. I never lithould have abandoned her. She '
the mother of my two girls, and I will be consulted, and made
acquained with all steps relative to her, till my authority shall
cease to exist by, her contracting a marriage with some other
man, and as I have said before, that end I will endeavour to
promote. But to speak candidly on the present proposal, I
doubt Mr. llayne's intentions, and I will not suffer hint to fol-
low her, unless you can convince me of the sincerity of his pro.
posals. I do not in the least distrust your anxiety, to have
llaria honourably settled; but I fear that you may be deceivcd
by your hopes and wishes. I take it for granted, that
Bayne is wholly unacquainted with the intercourse betwe• . me
anti Maria, and that it the inarriage takes place, he mus. re.
main still ignorant of it. However, on this point and Some
others it will be necessary that you and I should meet with as
little delay as possible. I had rather not see Maria at present.
I will either come to your house, or you shall come here; or we
will meet in Henrietta-street, or any other place you shall fix,
to night, at eleven o'clock, or at any hour to-morrow, from three
to six. " I am, &c.
A RDINGE BERKELEY,"

" W. FITZh.,_
" To S. F. Foote, tsq., 34, Keppel-street."

COLONEL BEMIELEY TO lilBs FOOTE.
Tuesday.
" You arrived in Keppel-street on Thursday last, and yester-
da afternoon Mr. Bayne paid a visit there, which he repeated
at night. I merely mention this to show the inutility, as well
as bad taste and feeling, in endeavouring to keep secret, or at
least not to acquaint me with those circumstances which I have
a right and am determined to know. It can answer no good
purpose thus to treat me, and may be productive of unpleasant
consequences to you. You have known me now long and welt
enough, I hope, to be aware that I am not inclined to act rashly',
or to make empty threats ; but if these visits go on widieutmy,
sanction, and unless the gentleman's marriage with you is Pl oac"!f
beyond the possibility of doubt, I shall take the liberty ! .
giving the company the benefit of my presence and good bons"
at one of these same visits, when certain motives Shall e .o.t.
plained whether to the satisfaction of all parties or not will remain.
to be proved. Do not think me harsh ; 1 love you now sincerely ,
and the deep interest I take in you and the girls maXe‘
me thus decided in m conduct, and impels me to try to sale
you from the fate which isis impending. The business 15 now re..
duced within a small compass. In a letter which you enclosed.
openly and honestly : consult
wandmpose firtilvteLlouprrofapthoseerd,
mhearstiTates_ge,
tothaytotl.r.
Do
onyynoeu hasglea lien ttuoaslciy.
cept it? In justice to me, to Mr. Hayne, and toy oursef, ACC
ever:keenly I may suffer at the idea of an eternal soars
your own happiness; and„ boot
twill
again solemnly pledge myself to stifle all selfish feelings,
had an!
co-operate with you by every means in my power. I ,'
tended to have seen you ; but now I had rather not : but ping
father I must see. I have been informed that you intend goog
to. the play, or Opera, either in company with i'tlr. Ilityllei °Y. 11
his box ; I would advise you not to do that till I have the full
explanation I have asked for from your father. If you do, Yoit
will immediately place me under the necessity
give me an an. of seeking the
1 explanation from Mr. Hayne. On this point,
swer by the bearer : the others you can answer at your leisure.
,

MR. FOOTE TO COLONEL BERKELEY.
" Tuesday, June 29. ,
t+ Sir—Under all circumstances which have taken place,
cannot entertain any doubts whatever of Mr. Ilayne's honour'
able intentions, which 1 will more fully explain to you to.mer•
row in your own house at Spring-gardens, at half-past three
o'clock, according to your appointment. To -night lam goiog
with my wife and daughter to the Opera, in a box which Dlr.
Rayne has procured me certainly, but not in his own los; be
has given that up, and Sams has the lettingef it. Mr. BAY"e'e
last two visits (N.B. Monday evening and Tuesday morning)
have been to make the offer of his hand, &c., to my daughter,
which had before been made to me, and I have only endquest
that you will do me and my family the justice to susp yoo
when,
judgment or interference until you see me tomorr shall have
upon all the other points that you have alluded to, I
no objection whatever to consult with you, &c. This I hop
you will deem a sufficient answer to your letter, without MI
daughter's reply (at this moment); and I can only repeat our
united request that you will not take any steps whatever before
our interview, when I feel assured that I shall be able to Cl'
plain every thing satisfactorily; and am, Sir, yours.,
" S. F. FOOTE."

MISS TOOTE TO COLONEL BEREICLEY.
" We are going to the Opera, but I must entreat you will
wait till the interview with my father to-morrow."

These letters were immediately succeeded by another fruity
Lail
concluding uponhimhwini
Colonel Berkeley to Miss Foote, saying, that something Wss
planationa te ly seek bolf r.
hisli intentions,sy n e, and
due to his feelings on the occasion, and that he should come $0
the Opera; adding, that if she was there, he should initnetli*
" You can feign illness."
Miss Foote, with her father and mother, after having been
detained more than an hour and a half beyond the time nP'
pointed to meet Mr. Hayne at the Opera, arrive there,:
when they were informed him the cause of their delay, an"
that they had been occupied in a repeated correspondence
with Colonel Berkeley, who, from his threats, he WaYllei
might expect would trouble him with a visit. C?locnceti
Berkeley came to the pit of the Opera, "Pied his
;reijend,
Ithseltfhefsoerstuhretlas-:
of his search, and shortly afterward sent
.f.i„-,i,ne to give
Mr. Masse, into the box, with a request to Au' Hayne
. Mr.
a meeting to Colonel Berkeley', then waiting in the lo y,
_op .
Hayne, with Mr. Foote, left the box for that purpose. (fir e!
Iterkeley then introduced himself to Mr. Llayne, and de ir..:
meeting the following day. Mr. !Jayne said it had bee
01,11_.
ranged for him to leave town, but that he would make : pales
of remaining for the purpose of meeting him. Colonel Stor,lt,.;!!,
then signified his desire that Mr. Hayne would be p ‘,T.ri:
intended to orP 0'
with a friend, for that he (Colonel Berkeley)
one on his own account, and the rrted
I • .„ , June) _
Mt,
On the following morning 1 ednesdaY, ouch ley :'
Foote received the following letter from Colonel Berke _,,,n,
``Berkeley-house, Spring-gardens, IVetinestlaY au"
June 30, 1824. to o.
~ sir—ln spite of the repeated warnings that I gave , I
and your ill-advised daughter, your want of candour eafi that
dealing has reluctantly forced me to call on Mr. Ilayne 'v' into
explanation which I wished to have received from you_me :
what detail that may lead it is impossible for me to !°`,liit,
you heard me make an appointment with him fur foll'enona•
this afternoon. If, therefore, you have any thing to.,s gies.
nicate which may avert an exposure of your daugote,e't, that
tion, you. must be here by half-past two. But recoll,tor be
rer
and
unless you are prepared to give up all mysterh isit vii I
own sake to act as 1 have entreated you to 40. your c
wholly useless. " I am,. ELIS a
" W . FITZ/lARDINGB BERK
" P.S. You had better send an answer about 12.
! "ToS. F. Foote, Esq. 34, Keppel.street."

MR. FOOTE TO COLONEL BF.RIOELEYA, 1824,
" Wednesday. morning, June two,
" Sir—l will be with you unctually at half-PM'.
whoenn
myou
partsh a 1 1: nut
an d fir dams nyt
ft,' dour
or
. plant dealing' °Zhoial
you request,
the
~neither
suppose that I have not observed them ; at
trust that I shall be enabled to convince you that r'ir'r,
has been (nor will
.be on our interview) any Want °` •
"Sir, your obedient humble servant, vocr.E.-
" SAMUEL r• '
"To Colonel Berkeley," &c. &c. ,t, Pei °.
Mr. Foote met Woad Berkeley according to --e 3- he
thought
tal
went, and again explained Mr. Ila ne's intentions.
(Mr. Foote) did not think Colonel' Berkeley entidedsnd el/i
such explanation, he having broken all his promises - Berk
gagetuents With 'Miss Foote, by which he (Colonel Bathe iii.
had released her from his cootivol or interference',.,l„invresled„
terview with Mr. Foote, Colonel Berkeley repeatedly -41
itvyasontrroyf cantu.
time ,
his unabated love for Miss Foote, and
circumstances that prevented his marrying her, saYalLt of her
would go to Mr. Bayne, and speak in such a 113_,.gan—ast-011 "t;
as 111 r. lia/netnight congratulate himself on the l'''''', %, .0 Mug-
-1 a woman e (Colonel Berkeley) should resign vut" it 0101'
1 regret—a woman so worthy his admiration, and so vie'"
lamented the utio, e

f

f

dated to make him happy. Colonel Berkeley was then informed
by Mr. Foote for what purpose the money had been advanced
to hint (Foote), and that it was still unapplied to that or any
other purp9se. Colonel Berkeley
.then strongly urged secrecy ,
on the subject and nature of the intercourse between him and
Miss Foote; and, when told that it was arranged that Mrs.
Foote should make the disclosure to Mr. !Lytle, Colonel Ber- '
keley said, " If Maria is so silly, surely her mother would not
be such a d—d fool." Colonel Berkeley shed tears, and was
(apparently at least) greatly affected at this interview, which
terminated in his requesting Mr. Foote to go immediat-4Y to
Mr. Bayne, and to say that he (Colonel Berkeley) meant no
hostility, but merely to ascertain the nature of his offers, which,
if honourable, he should be satisfied; and Mr. Foote left Col.
Berkeley with the impression that, instead of injuring he
(Col. Berkeley) would in every possible way repair the wrong
he had done Miss Foote by not marrying her himself. Mr.
Foote made the communication accordingly to Mr. Ilayne, '
whom he found prepared to meet Col. Berkeley in the manner
he had expected, and determined, should Col. Berkeley demand
what were his intentions towards Miss Foote, that he would re-
fuse an answer to such interrogatory, conceiving that he had no
right to interfere or make such inquiry.
The meeting took place between Col. Berkeley (with Mr.
Maxse as his friend) and Mr. Haynes (with Mr. Best. who shot
Lord Camelford, as his friend); but of the result of which Miss
Foote and her family were in total ignorance, until the receipt
of the following letter from Mr. Ilayne, which led them to
conclude, and which afterwards turned out to be the fact, that
Colonel Berkeley had informed Mr. llayne of those circum-
stances which (Col. Berkeley) had urged Miss Fote and her
funily not to reveal :
Mr. Ilayne begs to be distinctly understood to Miss Foote,
t" it under no circumstance whatever can any acquaintance
1--eeforth be proper on the part of Mr. Hayne.—Wednesday,
June 30."
This letter was closely followed by one from Col. Berkeley
to. Miss Foote, wherein lie says " I am hurt and wounded more
than I can express. I will not see you yet. Was it necessary
for you to deceive me ? I soon must see you relative to the
children. Your father borrowed 1,100!. tram Mr. Bayne, as
he stated, on your account." This letter enclosed one to Mr.
Foote, stating that " Mr. Hayne positively refused to state his
intention of marrying your daughter, and a discussion ensued
that chewed me that it never could have been his intention lat-
terly, and disclosed such a scene of unnecessary double-dealing,
both to him and me, that I can only sum up the whole by say-
ing that I am thoroughly disgusted.
The following is a copy of a letter from Mr. Foote to Colonel
Berkeley, after the meeting between Colonel Berkeley and Mr.
Bayne,and before the 6th of July :
You may believe me or not, just as you like, for now
(after your late conduct), I am reckless of either your good or
ill opinion. In the first place, I most positively assert that all
•I stated to you on Wednesday morning was true. I did not
deny that Mr. Ilayne had advanced me money, but at the same
time 1 told you it was so advanced for the specific purpose of
r-enting me promotion in the army, which both his father-
law and his solicitor gave every possible assistance to. That
money was, and is now, lodged for the above specific purpose ;
and what I said to you was this— that neither I nor any
part of my family had ever received a single shilling of Mr.
Osyne's money but in the way before stated ; nor have we
ever done so, which can and will be demonstrated to him be-
yond the possibility of a doubt. As to its having been (as
you state) advanced for my daughter's use, nothing of the
kind was ever intimated directly or indirectly in any way what-
ever with my knowledge ; rind, with regard to Mr. flayne's
refusing to state his honourable intentions towards my
daughter, it must have arisen solely from this cause—viz.,
that his advisers 2 decidedly objected to your calling upon hint
to
do So, which upon compulsion it was not very natural they
should do ; therefore, if is either hesitated or refused to allow
of his honourable intentions, he must have been talked out of
it by his advisers, and which your conduct gave them so full
an opportunity of doing. In short, I am thoroughly convinced
that did not emanate from himself, for his intentions roost de-
cidedly. were to have married my daughter, and he most cer-
tainly would have clone so, had not your (in my opinion) very
unjustifiable conduct prevented it. 'l' bus have you added ano-
ther cruel injury to the very many you have before inflicted on
my daughter and her family altogether.
" Disgust is not a word one half strong enough to express
what I and her mother feel at your truly base and most disho-
nourable conduct towards our deeply injured, and now (by
You) persecuted daughter; but it shall not end here.
" S. F. F."

Miss Foote, the subject and person most interested and in•
Jared in their debate, finding herself thus left without any ex-
planation from either party at the meeting, the members of
which had settled the business, it seemed, to their own satis-
faction, wrote the following lettter to Colonel Berkeley :
MISS FOOTE TO COLONEL ERKLEY.
Thurl3sday,E July 1, 1824.
" The only motive I have for now addressing you, is to ask
one simple question. Did you, yesterday, directly, or indirectly,
make Mr. Bayne or any of the party, acquainted with the
nature of the intercourse that has existed between us ? I deny,
moat positively, that any money was ever borrowed from Mr.
Rayne for my use in any way whatever, and which I shall lose
no tense in making known to all concerned, and the strictest
investigation of the villainous and treacherous conduct that has
been practised towards me shall take place, for I will no longer
submit to the persecutions and injuries so unjustly heaped upon
me. I request you will immediately reply to the question I
have asked in this letter,"
To which Miss Foote received the following from Coloael
Berkeley :
" Berkeley-house, Spring-gardens, July 1, 1824.
" I do not think you authorized to ask the particulars of the
interview that took place yesterday between me and Mr. Rayne.
I gave you and your father repeated warnings, that if you
would not explain to me most clearly the footing that you and
Mr. Rayne were on, before his visits were sanctioned m your
house, and before you appeared in public with him, I would
seek (though most reluctantl) the explanation from bins myself.
You were obstinate, and I kept my word. What passed between
us at that explanation, I shall decline to communicate. This
much, however, I have no objection to state—Mr. Rayne dis-
tinctly said to me, in presence of my friend, and his own, that
Tour father had borrowed the money of him, amounting to
1•1001, for the purpose of paping your bills, because you
were sobbing and crying at home, for want of the means of pay-
mg them yourself. And Mr. Mayne declared that he lent the
money under the impression that it would be so applied. You
will adopt what measure you choose under these circum-
stances. I only hope that they may be of a more prudent and
less deceitful nature than some of those which you have lately
had recourse to."