Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-01-06
FEMALE VANITY.

remarkable principally for overweening
pride aud for her affectation of regal
privileges and prestige. OF her Horace
Walpole relates: 1.-THE Duchess of
Buckingham, who is more mad with
pride than any MERGERS wife in Bedlam,
came last night to the opera, en- prin-
cess literally in robes, red velvet and
ermine'' 1t was she who made the
famous reply to Sarah, Duchess of MARI
borough, upon the latter's refusing to
lend the funeral car which had conveyed
of life which WAS far superior to the
circumstances which must support it
They saw before them but one chance
of promotion, and that was in attach
ing themselves to the ccLrt of Hanover,
where the future sovereign of England
awaited the demise of the reigning
Queen (Anne) As way of eking out
the 'sways and means" of their small
MENACE, as great a bugbear to fash
ionable young married couple then AZ
now, we find an amusing anecdote of
her cutting off her beautiful abundant
tresses commanding high price from
the peruke makers in those days of
flowing fiaxen wigs to furnish forth
banquet to her husbands guests. Wigs
were sold at that time for twenty and
thirty guineas apiece; and as each fair
tress fell into the trembling balances,
we might suppose it to have been in
every sense OF the words, worth its
weight in gold.n On the accession of
his father to the throne of England, the
electoral prince afterwards George IL
caused Mrs. Howard to be appointed
woman of the bed chamber to the young
Princess of Wales.
To these apartments came frequently
the electoral prince, not attracted at
that time by the mild beauties of their
fair mistress, bnt by the lovely, lively,
laughing Mary Bellenden, described by
every one of her contemporaries as the
most perfect creature they ever knew
TIE fat, phlegmatic heart of her royal
adorer beat strange music within the
princely breast when the sound of her
footsteps fell upon his ear.
One of his amusements consisted In
counting and recounting his money, a
proceeding which greatly irritated the
nervous system of the saucy Bellenden; !
''Sir." she cried out to him one day, 81
cannot bear il; if you count your money
any more / will go out of the room. "
The chink of his gold was as disagreeable
to her as his unwelcome presence, and
the heat of the giddy Bellenden was
safe from the spells of either. That
was already in the proud possession OF
Colonel Campbell, one of the grooms of
the bedchamber, who afterwards sue
ceeded to the title of Argyll at the
death of Duke Archibald.
Mrs. Howard succeeded to her friend
in the post of favorite; and she had
neither the wish nor the spirit to repel
the attentions of her royal admirer, as
Miss Bellenden had done before her.
Horace Walpole tells us that she pre-
ferred the ''solid advantages" to the
ostentatious ecldt of her position.
THE WILD DUCHESS OF oUEENsBERRY.
Catharine hyde was the daughter of
the Earl of Clarendon, and afterwards
became the wife of Charles Douglas,
Duke of Queensberry. She was cele-
brated for her beauty, and for the
daring with which she defied the court
party, by promoting subscriptions to
the secoEd part of the ''Beggars'
OPERA" when it had been prohibited
from being acted. For this offense she
was forbidden the court. Pope, Swift,
and Prior have immortalized her in let
tiers and in verse; the latter in the poem
entitled ''The Female Phteton," which,
as description of a fast young lady of
those days. is worthy OF insertion here:
'sThis Kitty, beautiful and young,
And wild as colt untamed,
Bespoke the fair from which she sprung
With little rage inflamed
ssTnf .p,ed Will, raoa OF sad raefraipt
Which wise mamma ordained;
And sOrely vexed to play the saint,
Whist wit and beauty reigned.
"Must Lady Jenny frisk about,
And visit with her cousins;
at balls must she make all the root,
And bring home hearts by dozens?
"What has she better, pray, than l,
What hidden charms to boast,
That all mankind for her should die,
While am scarce toast?
dearest mamma for once let me,
Unclaimed, my fortune try;
I'll have my earl as well as she,
Or know the reason why.
'sI'll soon with Jenny's pride quit score,
-. Make all her lovers fall;
They'll grieve was not loosed before;
She, was loosed at all.
'sFondness prevailed, mamma gave way;
Kitty, at hearts desire,
Obtained the chariot for day,
And set the world on fire."
Walpole describes a quarrel between
her and the Duchess of Richmond.
whose daughter, Lady Caroline, had
recently eloped. There is very good
quarrel on foot, between two dnchesses.
She of Queensberry sent to invite Lady
Emily LennoE to ball; her Grace of
Richmond, who is wonderfully cautious
since Lady Caroline's elopement, sent
word, she could not determine The
other sent again the same night; the
same answer. The Queensberry then
sent word that she had made up her
company, and desired to be excused
from having Lady Emily's, but at the
bottom of the card wrote, too great a
trust. You know how mad she is, and
how capable of such q stroke"
Tire next we hear of her is regaining
foothold at court, a point for which
she had intrigued two years unsuccess-
fully, and which she achieved on the
on the occasion of her sons being
Obliged to the king for a regiment in
the Dutch service. She would not let
him go to kiss hands until they sent for
her to. Then, again, we find her at
Richmond, at firework fete amongst
the ..whole court of st. Germans and
all the Fii4es upon EARTH" in ''a for
lorn TRIM. in white apron and hood, "