New-York daily tribune., 1844-07-02
THE TRIBUNE.
From Blackwood'. Magazine for June
Beau Brurnmeli.
fCon,;nned 7 ~

NEIL dlWoVS CenlcC, ana WltIl SDiIIt
the story of "Wales, ring the bell! "a verso:
which he Justly declared to be positively val
gar" and therefore with due respect for his own
sense Of elegance, absolutely impossible for him
He gave the more rational explanation, that he
had taken the part OF a lady VINO was presumed
to be the rival of Mrs. Fi,zherbert, and had been
rash enough even TO make some remarks on Mrs.
Fitzherbert's bon point, matter Of course
never to be forgiven by belle. This extended
to declining love" between him and the
Prince, whose foihle was horror Of growing cor
pulent. and whom Brummell therefore denomlna
ted "Big Ben," the nickname Of gigantic p0r
ter at Carlton House; adding the sting Of call
ing Mrs Fitzherbert Ben ina. Moore, in one Of
his satire's on the Princes letters of February
the 18th, 1912, to the Duke Of York. in which
he cut the Wings, thus parodies that celebrated
sentence of banishment ~
Neither have resentnen, wish there should come II
e mortal except, s.. now think on I Beau htamr'eI
To cut and bnng the old king into fashion"
Brumm. now, since the sword was drawn,
resolved to throw awav the sheath, and his hits
were keen and "damsging," as those things arc
now termed. In this style he said to little Colo
mel Mcmahon, the Princes Secretary-"I made
him, and 1 shall unmake him"
The fat friend" hit was more pungent in
reality than in its usual form. The Prince.
walking down st. James's street with Lord Moi
ra, and seeing BrummelI approaching arm-n.arnl
with a man of rank determined to chow the
openness Of the quarrel, stopped and spoke to the
noble lord with an apparent unconsciousncss Of
ever having seen the Beau before. The momen,
he was turning away, Brummcll asked in his
most distinct voice, Pray, who is your fat
friend 2" Nothing could be more dexterously
impudent; for it repaid the Princes pretended
want of recognition precisely in his own coin,
and besides stung him in the very spot where he
was known to be most thin skinned.
1t is sufficiently remarkable that the alienation
of the Prince from Brmmc scarcely affected
his popularity with the patrician world. or his
reception by the Duke and Duchess of York.
He was a frequent guest at Oatands, and seems
to have amused the Duke by his pleasantly, and
cultivated the taste of the Duchess by wrtinr
her epigrams, and making her presents of little
dogs. The Duke of York, though not much
gifted with the faculty of making jests. greatly
enjoyed them in others. He was good humor
ed, easy.manncred man, wholly without affec,a
ton of any kind wcll.incntoned, with sone
sagacity-mingled, hnwevnr with good deal &C
that abruptness which belonged TO all the BrurS-
wicks; and though unfortunate in his domestic
conduct, matter on which it would do no ser
vice to the reader to enlarge, yet brave soldier,
and most useful commander chief Of the
Horse Guards He, too, could say good things
now and then. One day at Oatlands, as he was
mounting his horse 70 ride to town, seeing a poor
woman driven from the door, he asked the ser.
want what she was. GA beggar, your roval
highness nothing but soldiers wife, =" No
thing but soldiers wife. And pray, sir, whe,
is YOUR mistress 2" OF course the poor woman
was called back and relieved.
Still Brummell continued in high life, and was
one of the four who gave the memorable trie
at tho Argyle Rooms in July, 1913, in conse-
quence of having won a considerable sum at haz-
ard. The other three were Sir Henry Mildmav.
Pierrepoint, and Lord Alvanley. The difficulty
was, whether or not to invite the Prince, who
had quarreled with Midmay as well as with
Brummell. In this solemn affair Pierrepo nj
sounded the Prince. and ascertained that he
would accept the invitation if il woro proposed
to him. When the Prince arrived, and was Of
course received by the four givcrs of the feie, he
shook hands with Alvanlcy and Plcrrepont, hu,
took no notice whatever of the others. Brum-
NELL was indignant and at the close of the
night, would not attend the Prince to his Carriage
This was observed, and the Princes remark on
it next day was" Had Brumme taken the cut
I gave him last night good-humorcdly, should
have renewed my intimacy with him" How
that was to be done, however, without lying down
TO be kicked, it would be difficult to discover
Brummell, however, on this occasion, was un.
doubtedy as much in the right, as the Prince was
in the wrong.
Brummell, in conformity to the habits of the
time, and the proprietes of his caste, was of
course gambler, and of course was rapidly ru-
ined but we have no knowledge that he went
through the whole career, and turned swind'cr.
One night he was playing with Combe, who uni
ted the three characters of lover of play brew
er, and an alderman. 1t was at Brookess, and
in the year of his mayoralty. Come, Mash
Tub, what do you set 2" said the Beau. "TwVn-
tyfve guineas," was the answer. The Beau
won, and won the same sum twelve times run
ming. Then, putting the cash in his pocket. said
with low bow, Thank you, Alderman; for
this, l II always patronizc your porter" "Ncrv
we'll sir" said Combe. dryly, II only wish every
blackguard in London would do the same"
AT this time play ran high at the clubs. A
Baronet now living SAID TO have LOST at Wa.
tiers fl0. 900 at one sitting at ecdrt6. In lSl4
Brummell lost not only all his winnings, but ''au
unfortunate fl0,00O," he expressed il, the last
ne had at h,s bankers. Brummell was now I'll.
ined, and, to prevent the possibility of his
cry at any future period, he raised money at ruin.
ous interest, and finally made his escape to Calais
Still, when every thing else torsook him, his odd
way Of telling his own story remained. He
saii," observed one of his friends at Cacn. when
talking about his altered circumstances that
up to particular period of his life, every thrg
nrospered with him, and that he attributed this
good luck to the possession of Il silver sxpencc
with hole in it, which some body had given
him some years before, with an isiunction 10
take good care OF it, as every thing would 90
well with him SO long as he kept it, and every
thing the contrary If he happened to lose it
And 30 it turned out; for having a; length in an
evil hour, given it by mistake to hackney
coachman, complete reverse of his affairs took
place, and one misfortune followed another until
he was obliged to fly. On his being asked why
he did not advertise reward for it, he answered
IL did; and twenty people came with SIX
pences with holes in them for the reward, but rot
nv sixpence." And YOU never heard any more
of it Z" NO." he replied no doubt that rds
cal Rothschild, or some of that sci, have got
hold of it." But the Boau's retreat from London
was still to be characteristic. As It had become
expedient that he must make his escape without
seinf on the tiay of his intended retreat he dncd