James Boswell's Mac crowns on his Grand Tour.

By Frank Lester Pleadwell.

Notwithstanding Thomas Gray's harsh and prejudiced allusion to Bos-
well as a "green-goose", amplified by George Saintsbury to "a green-
goose with a semi-heroic love for heroes", interest in the man, his
works and his doings, continues unabated. As evidence of this one has
only to recall the wide-spread press notices of the successive discov-
eries of Boswell papers in Malahide Castle, and later of the Fetter-
cairn papers in Scotland, and their acquisition by Lieutenant Colonel
Isham.

In 1927 I was fortunate enough to acquire from last of Bromley several
letters by Lord Mountstuart addressed to William (later Sir William)
Hamilton, British Minister at the Neapolitan Court from 1764 to 1800.
The letters were written from a number of places in Italy, where Mount-
stuart was on a grand tour, and from England after his return home.
During a portion of the tour in Italy Boswell was a member of the Mount-
stuart party. Unfortunately no letter mentions Boswell by name, but
there are references to events in which Boswell undoubtedly participated.

In 1764, after much importunity, Boswell had succeeded in getting his
father's permission to enter upon a four-months continental tour. Late
in that year he was in Geneva about to set out for Italy, and was in
Naples in March, 1765, and by April in Rome. In the latter city he join-
ed Mountstuart, and shortly/they went together to Venice. Mountstuart
was twenty years of age, Boswell twenty-four. It was to Mountstuart that
written for his admission
Boswell dedicated his thesis in civil law, "#as an advocate
to the bar of Scotland, in July 1766, the Latin text of which was ad-
versely commented upon by Johnson."

Mountstuart is several times mentioned in the *Life of Johnson*, and Bos-
well's letters have numerous references to him. During their intimacy
in Italy Mountstuart is known to have given Boswell two books. One is
mentioned in the *Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides*, under date of Aug-
ust 13, 1773: "I had with me . . . a Bible, which was given me by Lord
Mountstuart when

2.

1

we were together in Italy!" The other volume the writer happened upon in 1924, in the library of a girl's school near Washington. This library has long since been dispersed, and the present ownership of the book is not known. It bore the title, M. Tulii Ciceronis Tusculanarum Disputationum Libri Quinque, &c., Glasgowe: 1744, and an inscription in Boswell's hand, "James Boswell, Venice, 1764, a Present from My Lord Mountstuart." The year "1764" is in error; it should be 1765.

John, Viscount Mountstuart, was the eldest son and heir of John Stuart, the third Earl of Bute. Bute at this time was not in office, but he still retained the friendship of King George III. It was he who secured a pension for Johnson. The young viscount, born in 1744, succeeded to the earldom in 1792, and died in Geneva in 1814. He had a moderately successful political and diplomatic career, having been member of Parliament, envoy at Turin, 1779-1783, and ambassador to Spain for a portion of the year 1783. It is worthy of note that his mother was a daughter of the celebrated Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. He married first in 1766, Charlotte Jane Windsor Hickman; and second, in 1300, Frances, the daughter of Thomas Coutts, founder of the banking house of Coutts and Company.

Mountstuart's letters, which are to follow, are all addressed to William (later Sir William) Hamilton, who from 1774 had the British diplomatic representative at the Neapolitan court, where he remained until the year 1800. At the date of these letters Hamilton's first wife was living, and the references in the letters are to her, not to Emma Hart, who was to become a member of the menage about 1786, though she did not become Lady Hamilton until 1791. Sir William Hamilton was a collector of Greek vases and other antiquities, which were sold to the British Museum in 1772, and made noteworthy observations of volcanic phenomena on Vesuvius and Etna during his residence in Italy. 2

Mountstuart's letters date from May 7, 1764 [1765?], to November 29, 1767, and are written, one from Rome, two from Venice, one from Luton Park (the Bute country seat in England), and one from London.

1"Lord Mountstuart's parting gift to him [Boswell] was a copy of the English Bible." [The Hooded Hawk or the Case of Mr. Boswell. D. B. Wyndham Lewis. New York: 1947, 101]

2 In 1798 Sir William Hamilton entertained Nelson at Naples, and accompanied the court to Palermo. In 1800 he travelled to England with Nelson, and died there three years later.

3.

Boswell was in Geneva when he wrote to Sir Alexander Dick on December 24, 1764, outlining his projected tour of Italy, and stating that he intended to visit Turin, Milan, Venice, Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Parma and Genoa, where he would embark for Marseilles; but he deviated from this plan quite materially. Various and sundry affairs of the heart were chiefly responsible for major changes in his itinerary, and perhaps the meeting with Mountstuart in Rome brought about a modification of the schedule. The Corsican adventure came last.

On December 31st, 1764, he wrote to Rousseau from Geneva, "Je pars demain pour Italie!" On May 11th, from Rome, again to Rousseau, "J'ai presque fini mon tour d'Italie", yet nearly five months were to pass before he left for Corsica. Boswell's third stop in Rome appears to have occurred about the middle of April. The first reference to Lord Mountstuart is in a letter/dated May 22, 1765, directed to Sir Alexander Dick. He writes, "Lord Mountstuart is here. I have the honour of being much with him. I am a true liberal philosopher. I can take the good of individuals of all parts. I can even be gay with the outlawed Wilkes." John Wilkes was in exile at this period, and Boswell had met him on several occasions in Naples, and now in Rome, where he had come recently. The Mountstuart party, with Boswell, appears to have left Rome on June 13th. From Terni, on June 15th, Boswell wrote again to Wilkes, "I have formed a great intimacy with Lord Mountstuart, who has insisted with me to accompany him in the rest of his tour in Italy. He is an amiable young nobleman and I can tell you wants not the spirit of his ancient family. You see me then in my element. My liberal disposition will ever remain, should I even live in the very heart of a court." Again to Wilkes goes a letter from Venice, on July 13th: "I continue to like Lord Mountstuart. My intimacy with him has brought me acquainted with the character of the character of Lord Bute, whom I shall ever admire. His letters to his son prove him to be a man of the

1 Boswell's views on the character of the Earl of Bute as here presented place him among the few who could yield any praise. He was one of the worst of statesmen, but seems to have been esteemed by his friends and his family. Both Wilkes and Churchill had bitterly attacked the administration of the Earl of Bute, when he was Secretary of State, 1761 to 1763.

4.

most generous soul and most tender heart. I am sure he is one of the
best friends and best fathers that ever lived ... he writes with an
eloquence which would charm you. ... I left Rome to recover of a fe-
ver."

So much for the *mise en scène* and the persons of the drama. We now
come to the letters, which are reproduced just as they exist in manu-
script, even to the original spelling.

Here is Mountstuart's first letter:

"It is with inconceivable pleasure My Dear Mr Hamilton, that I leave Dutchesses & my indolence to thank you a thousand times for the polite friendly manner you treated me in, when at Nales. I would make you many civil speeches & with great sincerity tell you what a quantity of *crave blanche* I could make use of, to mark everything in a proper manner *dans les fastes* de ma vie, did not I believe, you will think it come from my heart, when I tell you, that I little know myself if I have not a lasting remembrance of your great kindness & civility. I

With regard to our journey, it was rather unfortunate, for what with the Colonel's having his mouth open & Mr Mallet's wanting a crust of bread, they let my strong box drop out of the chaise, & though found again by the great diligence & Politeness of the Governor of Rome, so broke to peices as to be entirely useless & all my rings, antiques, & every other little trifle I had in the world, I am afraid, irreca实验及ly lost; the letters I believe are most of them safe, yet it has put me a little out of sorts, as there are two or three from my Father of the highest consequence, besides you know Ladies secrets in abundance.

My Dutchess though she received me astonishingly well, cannot put
this out of my head, or indeed make me forget, how agreeably I
spent my time at Naples. My departure from Rome is not in the
least settled. I wish it much, not having any charms, more, to
keep me; most probably my indolent disposition will prolong my
stay, does not my health interfere, which is at present in a bad
way, imputed to my bathing in the sea so much; something or other
has certainly brought back my complaint in my liver to a greater
degree than people think, who see me; Rome does not add much to
my amendment & if the country air which I mean to take, has not
a quick effect, I shall post back as fast as I can, to Dr Tron-
chin at Geneva.

For you Sir I envy you much, la belle Baronne is no bad an ac-
quisition, (by the by, she left my picture behind her, very polite-
ly realy). I also live with my belle, but a belle no longer so to
me; for the Colonel, he & I, at last, have met, made a mutual con-
fession of our grievances before a third Person & have agreed to
live comfortably together, Lord Mountstuart, being Lord Mount-
stuart, & master of himself; so you may wish me joy for the rest
of my tour.

I will now take my leave of you having wrote of too many things
that don't interest you; still if I was not such a strange idle
fellow, would desire your patience in hearing now & then that there
was a Person alive who had the greatest regard for Mr Hamilton; to
go on I will repeat again that I am soon to be in England where I
shall find myself an eldest, I may say a favorite son to the in-
accessible Lord Bute, but hope not to find him so to me, if ever

¹ Just about a year after Mountstuart's visit to Hamilton, Laurence Sterne was to write a similar letter of thanks. "I could not be at ease in my conscience, if I did not do by letter, what I was not able to do in words the Eve of my departure; & that was to thank you and Mrs Hamilton, for the many civilities and attentions paid me by you both, during my stay in Naples." (March 17, 1766).

5.

it can be of the least service to you, being My Dear Mr Hamilton
more than I can tell you your real friend & well-wisher,

Rome May 7
1764

J Mountstuart

I take the liberty of inclosing my arms for D'Ankerville & will
beg the favour of you to send me another Lava box, begging many
pardons for using you so little like an Envoye Extroidinaire.
Many Compliments to Mrs Hamilton I will take, with her permis-
sion, another opportunity to thank her for the dog, much yours
My Dear Mr Hamilton."

This letter is dated "1764", but it belongs to 1765, and this is the
year entered on the back by the recipient. In this "bread and butter"
letter are
/to his former host, there/several tantalizing references to individu-
als, who must for the present remain unidentified. Perhaps another
harvest of Boswell
"la belle Baronne", and the "third person" brought in to
arbitrate the difficulty between Mountstuart and the Colonel over the
lady. As for the Colonel his identity has been discovered, for he was
James Edmonstoune of Newton, a Scotsman and a cousin of Lord Mount-
stuart, who accompanied him as a companion on the tour abroad. He was
a close friend of the philosopher, David Hume, and seems to have been
a pleasant fellow, fond of his bottle and country life, and from the
evidence of this letter we are warranted in judging him fond of the la-
dies. Monsieur Mallet was a native of Geneva, a lecturer on history in
that city, and
who had been engaged as travelling tutor to Mountstuart.
From a portion of a letter in the Malahide papers, written by Boswell
from Siena to Mallet, it becomes apparent that the two were not con-
genial. Mallet delighted in deflating Boswell occasionally, and they
were both touchy. As for the lady referred to by Mountstuart as "my
belle", the publication of the Malahide Boswell manuscripts in 1929
makes it probable that she was Porzia Sansedoni, Mountstuart's mistress,
whose home was in Siena. When Boswell parted company with Mountstuart
on July 26th, he proceeded by way of Mantua and Florence to Siena and
made a most determined effort to supplant Mountstuart in that lady's
affections, but without success. He then turned for solace to the ra-
ther shadowy person known as Moma Tai, the "Italian angel", "my signo-
ra", the "wonderful creature" of his letters to Temple, who wrote to

6.

him, "with all the warmth of Italian affection"; so affecting indeed
was one of her letters that it made him cry. Moma Tai apparently fell
deeply in love with Boswell, and the correspondence between them went
on for two years. He did not, as with Porzia Sansedoni, regain posses-
sion of his letters; at least, the later discoverie
Malahide Castle have not yielded them up.

The letter definitely points to a difficulty between Mountstuart and
Colonel Edmonstoune over "my belle", arbitrated successfully before a
third person. Whether this was due to a jealous rivalry on the part of
the colonel, or to an admonition from him to Mountstuart over his man-
ner of life, it is perhaps idle to conjecture; nor do we know who act-
ed as arbitrator. Who can tell, perhaps it was Boswell's virginal ta-
lent as a lawyer that was requisitioned, or the intermediary may have
been Monsieur Mallet, the tutor.

John Ramsay in his "Scotland and Scotsmen" (1888), states that Boswell
was one of the few persons whom Colonel Edmonstoune could not abide,
looking upon him as a mischief-making lad, vain and penurious. He did
Boswell a good turn, however, when he returned to Scotland, by going to
Lord Auchinleck, to defend the tour to Corsica, which had been depre-
cated by the father. Edmonstoune asserted that the young man should be
commended for making the Corsican tour; that he himself, had he been
his own master, would have done the same. As a matter of fact, after
Boswell printed his *Account of Corsica*, the father admitted a fondness
for the book, saying, "James has taken a *tout* on a new horn."

The "Dr Tronchin" of the letter was Theodore Tronchin (1700-1781), the
quite celebrated physician of Geneva, who had an extensive practice a-
mong the British, and was the friend and physician of Voltaire. He stu-
died medicine at Leyden under Boerhaave, through financial support fur-
nished by Lord Bolingbroke. He first practiced in Amsterdam, where he
married the great-niece of Jan de Witt. In his last years he lived in
Paris, where he had a large practice among people of fashion. He was al-
so physician to the Duc d'Orleans. In Geneva Dr Tronchin was often con-

7.

sulted by travellers passing through Switzerland on their way to Italy, and he was a particular favorite with the British nobility, who frequently interrupted their journey at Geneva to have the benefit of his advice. On subsequent visits to Italy Lord and Lady Mountstuart, and Colonel Edmonstoune appear as patients of Dr Tronchin.

The "D'Ankerville" mentioned in the postscript was undoubtedly Pierre Hughes d'Ancarville (or d'Hancarville), a French archaeologist associated with Mr Hamilton in the collection and study of Greek and Roman antiquities. In 1766-7, he wrote and published an elaborate account of Hamilton's collections, the cost of illustrating and printing the work, some six thousand pounds, being borne by Hamilton.

In Boswell's "Travel Notes in Italy" there are occasional references to Mountstuart. These notes are much condensed, and at times truncated, but under date of May 13, the following occur:- "Then Ld. Mountstuart; lazy. He and Mallet din'd quite easy; said lik'd him to himself. . . Then drove in Corso; sup'd Mountstuart. . . Then Willison. . . Go speak to Edmonston and stay one more week. . . Fine to be well wt. Wilkes and Lord Mountstuart."

The allusion to Willison is significant, for as a result of research by Chauncey Brewster Tinker and Frederick Albert Pottle of Yale University, we now know that Boswell is the subject of a portrait painted by George Willison in Rome, in 1765. This change in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Mountstuart and his party, including Boswell, left Rome on or about June 13th, and all remained together until July 26th, when they were in Milan. The next letter in the series is written from Venice. A new set of acquaintances is introduced, but there is no mention of Boswell, although we know that he was of the party from Rome to Milan by way of Terni, San Marino, Bologna, Ferrara, Padua, Venice, Vicenza, Verona, and Brescia. Here is the first Venice letter:-

Venice July 12, 1765

A few lines, My Dear Mr Hamilton, from Venice to let you see I have not forgot Naples; I readily seize this opportunity as I believe you are the first person I ever wrote two letters run-

8.

ning to; put that out of the question I have a peculiar pleasure
of holding a little conversation with you & regret much that time
I spent so agreeably with you always wishing it to come over again.
I have no news from this part of the world, which is so stupid that
I sett out tomorrow for Bologna & from thence to Florence. I imagine
you know something of all these changes; in that case I beg you will
give me some information; you will have the great Stanley with you
soon; he left us only two days ago & intends going from Leghorn to
Naples in a Frigate ordered for that purpose. Stanly is so close,
it is impossible to get a word out of him; you will have Count Wal-
moden also, he is a very amiable man & I like him for his being a
Friend to the poor Baron de Werpup; apropos, I beg you would send
me back that account; I lent you; I by no means meant to give it.
Adieu, My Dear Mr Hamilton, pray write to me soon; indeed, I have
great pleasure to hear from you; you don't know what a warm friend
I am & how affectionately so yours

J Mountstuart

Direct to me at Charles Hatfields
Florence

I need not desire you to make many Compliments for me to Mrs
Hamilton."

Hans Stanley,

The "great Stanley" mentioned in this letter was/civil lord of
the Admiralty, and so entitled to order a frigate to stand by for
his accommodation. He was also a Privy Councillor, Governor of
the Isle of Wight, and Constable of Carisbrooke Castle. His mother
was the eldest daughter of Sir Hans Sloane. He travelled abroad
frequently from 1757 to 1765. In January, 1780, he was visiting
Earl Spencer at Althorp, and in a fit of melancholy cut his throat
with a pen-knife while on a walk in the woods there.

The "amiable Count Walmoden" was one of the sons of Amalie Sophie
von Wallmoden, who, as the Countess of Yarmouth, became the acknow-
ledged mistress of King George II. This son, Johann Ludwig von Wall-
moden (born 1736), was brought up at the English court, and repu-
ted to be the fruit of the intimacy of his mother with the King;
but his paternity was doubtful since he was born before the divorce
of his mother from Gottlieb Adam von Wallmoden, in 1739. The count
entered the Hanoverian army, bore high command with distinction in
the war with the French, 1783-1801, and died in Hanover in 1811.

The identity of the "poor Baron de Werpup", despite considerable re-
search, remained a mystery for several years after I had acquired
these letters, and it was only during a visit to Rome in 1930 that

1. The "account" here mentioned may have been an account of the accident to Baron de Werpup and of his burial in the Protestant Cemetery at Rome, shortly to be described.

2. Lady Yarmouth was the daughter of Lieut.-Gen. von Wendt, and had been the mistress of George II in Hanover; but on Queen Caroline's death in 1737, the King brought her to England.

9.

I stumbled upon the solution to the riddle. On a beautiful morning in September of 1930, I made a visit to the Protestant Cemetery. Leaving the spot where Keats and his friend Joseph Severn lie, I wandered over into that portion of the old cemetery which is abreast the moat-like excavation extending to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, intending to visit Shelley's grave. Passing the grave once supposed to contain the remains of the infant William Shelley, I happened to notice a monument which had not on previous visits to the cemetery attracted my attention. As I passed it, out of a long Latin inscription there flashed to my eye the names of "de Werpup" and "Mountstuart". The passage of one hundred and sixty-five years since it was erected had dimmed somewhat the legibility of the inscription, but enough was made out to establish the facts. It ran somewhat as follows:-

"Erected to a young man, both noble in character and birth, Baron George Anthony Frederick Werpup, one of the councillors of the King of Great Britain, as well as of the Elector of Brunswick and of Luxembourg, who, travelling on his own and on his country's business, on the twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1765, from the city of Rome to Venice, at the nineteenth milestone, or the third stop from the city, near Castel Nuovo, was, by the unfortunate overturning of his carriage, wiped out by ineluctable fate, swifter than can be related, in the very flower of his youth, having scarcely completed, with distinction, his twenty-fifth year; leaving his country, his parents, his friends, and all estimable persons, to mourn him perpetually. This monument has been erected by Viscount Mountstuart, a grieving friend, whom he never wronged, except by his death; who will mourn him with justified grief as long as he lives, as will his father, Baron Gottlieb Ludwig Werpup, Marshall of the Court of Hanover."

Further research in Rome developed the fact that this monument was the first one to be registered in the cemetery records. It is therefore the oldest monument, though not the oldest burial, for burials of resident or visiting Protestants were made here before records were regularly kept.

It would be interesting to know who composed this Latin epitaph. It is doubtful if Mountstuart possessed the scholarship to do it. Perhaps Boswell, Colonel Edmonstoune, and Monsieur Mallet may have had a share in its composition. It is not unlikely that Boswell was present when on that evening, under the flare of torches, the mortal remains of the "poor Baron de Werpup" were consigned to the earth of this sacred spot. Prejudice against the Protestants was such in the Rome

Professor Frederick A. Pottle informs me (February 15, 1959) that my guess that Boswell attended the burial of Baron de Werpup is correct. He states, "On Sunday 26 May (Pentecost), in company with the Abbe Grant, he [Boswell] drove out to Frascati to attend a mass at which Cardinal York [the Jacobite Henry IX] pontificated. The entry in the Journal is dated May 27, and ends: 'Villa Conti. Home. All stories. Then Burial Baron. Confusion; at last decent. Journ. today. Swear bring back application to fill mind. Go home & be independent like Montbodo [Lord Monboddo], not impatient.'"

10.

of this period that the authorities would not permit daytime inter-
ments, especially within the walls of the city.

The next letter announces the termination of Mountstuart's tour, owing to a summons home from his father. The parting with Boswell probably took place at Milan about July 26th. The latter continued on to Florence and then to Siena, which he reached in August. His imagination had been inflamed by the accounts which Mountstuart had given him of Porzia Sansedoni, and Boswell, as already related, proceeded to lay siege to her, but all to no purpose, for she yielded not at all to his blandishments.

Venice July 15 1765

My Dear Mr Hamilton, I have only time to tell you that affairs
of consequence has oblig'd my Father to send for me back to Eng-
land & that I sett out immediately. I beg you will direct for
the future to me at my Fathers in London. I am so stupid & so
hurry'd I hardly know what I say, but I can still perceive I have
a great Friendship for you & Mrs Hamilton to whom I beg many com-
pliments. Adieu, My Dear Sir, jusqu'au revoir en Angleterre where
I shall be ever sincerely yours

J Mountstuart

A Monsieur

Monsieur Hamilton

Envoye Extroidinaire de S. M. Britannique
Napoli

This is the only letter of the series which bears an address and
seal on the address sheet. The seal has lost its sharpness of de-
sign, but the motto is legible, "Avito viret honore" [He flourishes
in an honorable ancestry]. The apparent ease with which Mountstuart's
grand tour is broken off at parental command, is in marked contrast
to the difficulty Lord Auchinleck is to have to get his son started
on his way home. Boswell was still at Siena in late September matur-
ing his plan to go to Corsica. On September 28th he started for Leg-
horn, by way of Lucca and Pisa, and sailed for Corsica on October 11th.
His father on October 1 wrote him a letter, appealing and threatening
by turns, but it had been/little effect on the young man. He wrote,
"Upon Your writing that Lord Mountstuart was anxious you shou'd stay
sometime with him in Italy, and upon his Lop's desiring that I might
agree to it by a Letter to Baron Muir, As You noticed the advantages
might attend a ffriendship with that Lord And the benefit of having

11.

Coll. Edmondstoun and Monsr. Mallet's council, I agreed readily to the thing. But when I heard of Lord Mountstuart's coming over, how surprized was I that you had not come along with him, But stay'd in a Country where you had nothing to do And where all you cou'd learn cou'd be of no use in after life. I flattered myself, however, you wou'd haste away, take a passing view of ffrance, and be home about this time or before it. . . . Your mother, who is equally astonish'd at your conduct with me, remembers you."

Over a year elapsed before Mountstuart again addressed Hamilton. The passage of this time had wrought many changes in the viscount's life. Prospects of an alluring and interesting character were now impending, which are naively described in the succeeding letters.

1

Luton Park, Sept: 25, 1766

I am quite at a loss. My Dear Mr Hamilton, how to begin a letter to you after so long a silence; you indeed make half my excuses for me in your last by saying you know me too well to think that my Laziness in writing means any alteration in my regard for you, & you would do me great injustice to think otherwise, for ever since I have had the pleasure of knowing you, it has been in me a natural inclination to keep up a strict friendship with Mr Hamilton, & I can safely lay my hand upon my breast & say I have never once deviated from those sentiments from the first moment I profess'd them till now: But not to say anything more on this subject, I will endeavour to answer some of the Questions you make me in your last obliging letter, which are chiefly about myself. I sat out last winter with being what they call in Fashion but kept it a very short time for I did not at all enter into the plan of Living which was necessary for [me] to keep it up. I never flirted with the fine Ladies, & did not go much about. I am of the Macaroni & never was there but four times, & I am in the house of commons without being a Partyman or Politician. I confin'd myself to the company of two or three friends whom I enjoy'd more than all the great World. I liv'd too almost entirely with my own family, yet with all this I led such a dissipated wild Life that I say plainly it could not long continue & therefore being most inclin'd to a Domestick turn, I determin'd to marry; and the English may as you say they do, call me a Fortune hunter, for tis very true. I follow'd two Ladies & am in a fortnight to be marry'd to one, the eldest daughter of the late Lord Windsor. I will not pretend to give you my Description of her, for I know opinions vary, but this is certain, that she has a great deal of Cleverness & remarkable sweetness of Disposition & I have fom'd my ideas so much to marriage that I think of nothing but happiness. I suppose with all this the ensuing winter will make me a Politician. As for you, Mr Hamilton, I suppose your Life is much the same. Lord & Lady Holland, with a great number of young people are already set out. I believe for Naples; that will at least make the Country more agreeable to you; I envy you much the night you pass'd on Mount Vesuvius; it must have been glorious. I think you richly deserve F. R. S. for the pains you have been at to send them a description of it. Pray tell me, is your Collections of Antiquities much encreas'd since I saw you; I had almost forgot to thank you

1 Luton Park, the splendid residence built for the Earl of Bute by Robert Adam, was in Bedfordshire, about thirty miles north-west of London. The house no longer exists, but the site can be identified. See Luton in More Trivia by Logan Pearsall Smith, for his reflections upon visiting the site, page 133 of the New York edition.

12.

for the antique ring you was so good as to send me. I assure you,
I am much oblig'd to you & will obey your orders not to part with
it; talking of rings & Collections I would beg the favour of you
to make a collection of Mediterranean shells for me if it does
not give you too much trouble; you know I began one at Naples but
it never came to anything: I have no kind of news to tell you not
even of the Colonel, for he left me directly to be married, as you
may have heard perhaps & he is now gone to his regiment in Ireland.
I bought the Lava table of Him but have not yet open'd it. I beg
you will give me some news about D'Ankerville map; I long to see it.
And now, my Dear Sir, I will take my leave of you, begging my best
Compliments to Mrs Hamilton & will assure you that Nobody can have
a more sincere regard & friendship for you than me

Mountstuart

The Macaroni Club was formed about the middle of the 18th century,
and its membership comprised a group of young men of rank who had
visited Italy, who sought to introduce southern elegancies of manner
and dress into England. They gained their name from their introduct-
ion of the Italian dish macaroni to English tables. They were at
their zenith about 1772, when their costume is described as "white
silk breeches, very light coat and vest, with enormous white neck-
cloths, white silk stockings, and diamond-buckled, red-heeled shoes."
For some time the moving spirit of the Club was Charles James Fox.
Mountstuart, by his own statement, does not seem to have been a very
active member of the Club.

It is a candid admission which Mountstuart makes when he speaks of
his pursuit of an heiress, and he was successful, for on November 1,
1776, he was united in marriage with Charlotte Jane Windsor Hickman,
and after her death he married another heiress, Frances Coutts,
daughter of the banker, Thomas Coutts.

The Lord Holland of the letter was Henry Fox, made Baron Holland in
1763. He was the father of Charles James Fox. He was not in office
at the date of the letter, but had been in the Bute cabinet in 1762.

Reference has already been made in this paper to William Hamilton's
indefatigable study of volcanic action, which Mountstuart justly be-
lieves should be recognized by his election to the Royal Society. A
year later he was made a member of the Royal Society. He spent many
nights on Mount Vesuvius, and ascended that mountain during periods
of active eruption, taking with him an artist to record appearances
accurately. He witnessed and described the eruptions of 1776 and

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1777; and from 1791 employed Resina, the Dominican, to compile for him a daily calendar of volcanic phenomena. His ascents of Vesuvius are said to have numbered twenty-two in a period of four years.

Hamilton largely renounced collecting antiquities after 1772, but the passion returned, and Goethe mentions that in 1787 he saw Hamilton's art vaults filled with busts, torsos, vases and bronzes. Tischbein reports having seen Hamilton at Naples once, in full court dress, helping a ragged lazzarone to carry a basketful of antique vases.

The final letter of the series follows:-

My Dear Mr Hamilton, it is so long since you & I had anything to say to one another that I protest, I don't know how to begin a letter to you; to give you an account of my Life, it is very domestick. I have almost entirely lost my taste for the beau monde and can set quietly by the fireside dangling my little child with a great deal of Pleasure: I hope you how [now?] begin to grow tir'd of being abroad & that we shall see you soon in England, at least for a little time. I beg you will let me hear from you & that you will give me an account of what you are about. I behave so ill, I have no right to expect this from you, but I am sure you are persuaded of my great regard for you amidst all my indolence. I beg you will tell me what progress you have made in the Collection of shells you promised to make for me. I had a commission given me a year ago, which I intended to desire you to do for me, but have been so idle, I never have wrote. I therefore now beg of you to get me two fan sticks compleat of the Neapolitan white Tortoise shell & gold work, & that you would be so good as to send them as soon as possible, for it is of consequence as well as that you keep my secret of being so long before I wrote; I receiv'd your pictures & think them mighty well done. I have had the misfortune to mislay your letter, therefore beg you would let me know again what I am indebted to you. You see how indolent I always remain, but amidst all My Dear Mr Hamilton let me assure you of my being with the warmest friendship

Your faithful humble Servant

London Nov 29, 1767

Mountstuart

I beg my best Compliments to Mrs Hamilton; there is no news at all; the present Ministry is likely to continue.

The child mentioned in this letter was Mountstuart's son John, born September 25th, 1767, who pre-deceased him. Hamilton appears to have held his post at the Court of Naples for a period of thirty-six years. He was recalled in the year 1800, and died in 1803.

Many references to Lord Mountstuart occur in Boswell's correspondence of the years subsequent to the date of this letter. On April 4th, 1775, writing to the Rev. Mr. Temple, he says, "I have been at no other pub-

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lick place except exhibitions of pictures with Lord Mountstuart. He is warmly my friend, and has suggested to do for me. His brother's wife, a sweet, handsome, lively little woman, is my wife's intimate friend. I pass many of my morning hours with her. My intimacy with Mrs Stuart is friendship, sister indeed to love, but such as that I can never look foolish when her husband comes in."

The "lively little woman" for whose company Boswell seems to have had a liking was Mrs James Archibald Stuart, born Margaret Conyngham, who, in 1767, had married the second son of the Earl of Bute. In Boswell's "Condensed Journal" (1772), there is allusion to Mrs Stuart, as follows:-"Mrs. Stuart's, fine. Chose gown. Stayed dinner tête-a-tête. Lord Mountstuart came, was cheerful. Went together to Robin Hood." ([Club])

On June 3rd, 1775, Boswell to Temple, says:- "If Lord Mountstuart would but get me an independency from the King while my father lives, I should be a fine fellow." And again on November 6th, "My wife has recovered remarkably well. This son has been quite a cordial to her. He has been a little unlucky. The nurse had not milk enough; and as he is a big-boned fellow, he cannot subsist without _plentiful_ sustenance. (I avoid the word _copious_ ever since Lord Mountstuart suggested to me its existing _purgative_ ideas.)"

The son here mentioned grew up to become Sir Alexander Boswell, poet and antiquary, a great lover of Burns, and the founder of a private press at Auchinleck. He died in 1822 as a result of injuries received in a duel with James Stuart of Dunearn, whom he had attacked through death. the medium of a Tory paper. He was in his 47th year at the time of his/

On May 1, 1776, Boswell wrote to a friend, "I am going to sup with Lord Mountstuart, my Maecenas. You know how I delight in patronage." And on May 14th to Wilkes, "I should set out for Scotland tomorrow, but I will stay a day on purpose to have a dinner with Lord Mountstuart and you. Let me know then by a note this night, if possible - or tomorrow morning before ten - if that party can hold on Thursday, provided I can fix the third man. Send a note to me at Lord Mountstuart's, Hill Street, Berkeley Square. I think our tavern should be the Crown and Anchor,"

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The *Crown and Anchor* was in the Strand, in the Parish of St. Clement Danes. Johnson frequently attended worship in the Church of St. Clement Danes, now unfortunately a ruin. The tavern being in the Parish of St. Clement Danes, seems to have derived its second title from the legend of St. Clement, who was cast into the sea with an anchor about his neck. Hence the device of the anchor may be seen on the boundary marks of the Parish, and formerly in various parts of the Church of St. Clement Danes. The writer and his wife once joined the/annual party for "beating the bounds" of the Parish of St. Clement Danes. Boswell seemed to have/frequent resort to the *Crown and Anchor* when entertaining his friends.

On August 30th, 1776, Boswell wrote to Johnson, "I have since I saw you, read every word of Granger's *Biographical History*. It has entertained me exceedingly, and I do not think him the *Whig* that you supposed. . . he denied to Lord Mountstuart that he was a *Whig*. . . Lord Mountstuart wishes much to find a proper person to continue the work on Granger's plan, and has desired I would mention it to you; if such a man occurs, please to let me know." And on April 20th, 1776, to Wilkes, "I am delighted to find that my honoured friend and Maecenas, my Lord Mountstuart, made an excellent speech on the Scotch Militia Bill; and I am peculiarly delighted to hear that you gave him lively applause. . . If you knew his nobleness of soul as well as I do, you would almost allow him to be a prince with high prerogative; because it would be only allowing a large power of doing good, where there is a large inclination."

Boswell, in writing to Sir Alexander Dick, on October 15th, 1779, said, "I am exceedingly pleased with my young friend William [Ensign Dick] . . . I have presented him to General Paoli, Lord Mountstuart, and Dr Johnson." And to the same on October 22nd, "It was not till one o'clock on Monday morning that Colonel Stuart and I left London; for we chose to bid a cordial adieu to Lord Mountstuart, who was to set out that day on his embassy to Turin."

1. Among the more recent additions to the rare book vault of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery is a set of elephant folios, thirty-six in number, filled with portrait engravings of English monarchs, which were prepared by James Granger, and were once in the possession of Lord Mountstuart.

Boswell's last reference
16.

We now come to the final mention by Boswell in his letters of his friend of twenty-six years standing. During the fourteen year interval between the last allusion to Mountstuart and this final one, their acquaintance seems to have waned considerably. It is possible that with different interests and pursuits their paths diverged.

Under date of January 24th, 1793, Boswell wrote from London to his overseer at Auchinleck, Andrew Gibbs. This letter is the first one to evidence a disagreement between the two friends. It reads, in part, "If Lord Mountstuart continues to hunt on my lands, and leaps over the fences with his attendants, write a very respectful letter to him, saying that you have mentioned it to me, and that I request his Lordship may be pleased not to do so any more. But unless he does considerable harm, I would not wish that notice should be taken of it. Only, if any fences be hurt, application should be made to his Lordship for indemnification."

However, there is no evidence that in the two years of life left to him, Boswell had occasion to admonish his friend for the reasons stated in the letter, or make claim on him for damages to his property at Auchinleck.

With this last extract from the correspondence, the curtain falls on our narrative more or less descriptive of the association between Boswell and his "friend" and "Maecenas", Lord Mountstuart.