Charles Townshend

“ She held her own among the greatest ladies in London, and was on familiar terms with all the duchesses—Portland, Queensberry, Norfolk, Bedford, Hamilton—and nobody ever reminded her, by a shade of difference in their appreciation, that she had not been born in the purple.
She had more admirers than she took the trouble to count, and had refused offers of marriage that most women would have found irresistible. Charles Townshend had followed and courted her ”

“ I cannot comprehend how they came by the character of a lively people. Charles Townshend has more sal volatile in him than the whole nation. Their King is taciturnity itself, Mirepoix was a walking mummy, Nivernois his about as much life as a sick favourite child, and M. Dusson is a good-humoured country gentleman, who has been drunk the day before, and is upon his good behaviour. If I have the gout next year, and am thoroughly humbled by it again, I will go to Paris, that I may be upon a level with them: at present, I am trop fou to keep them company. ”

“ Charles Townshend, who, besides not knowing either of his own minds, has his brother's minds to know too, could not determine last night. Both brothers are gone to the King to-day. I was much concerned to hear so bad an account of your ladyship's health. Other people would wish you a severe fit, which is a very cheap wish to them who do not feel it: I, who do, advise you to be content with it in detail. Adieu! Madam. Pray keep a little summer for me. I will give You a bushel of politics, when I come to Marble Hill, for a teacup of strawberries and cream. ”

“ He had several qualifications for social enjoyment: one particularly in being an admirable mimic; so that in future life, any person who had once heard a debate in the Irish House of Commons had no occasion to ask the names of the parties imitated.
Well received in the upper circles of London, he found an introduction to Charles Townshend, then a member of the Ministry. One of the occasions proved to be a convivial entertainment protracted till the dawn of morning. The chief provocative to this excess was an amusing display of the talents of Jephson. ”

“ Though no man knew so well how to say what he [227] pleased, no man ever knew so little what he was going to say. [73]
Lord Buckingham moved the Address in the Lords, and flung in much panegyric on George Townshend; whose friends were now reduced to compose and publish in his name a letter in praise of Wolfe. The Ministers had proposed that the Address of the Commons should be moved by Charles Townshend, the nearness of whose connection would exclude him from being profuse on his brother: but he refused, on finding how little incense was intended to be offered to their name. ”

“ In 1741 Powell became private tutor to Charles Townshend (second son of Viscount Townshend) , afterwards chancellor of the exchequer. At the end of that year he was ordained deacon and priest, and was presented on 13 Jan. 1741–2 by Lord Townshend to the rectory of Colkirk in Norfolk. In 1742 he returned to college life, and, after reading lectures for two years as assistant tutor, was promoted in 1744 to be principal tutor, and acted in 1745 as senior taxor of the university. While he was at Cambridge his chief friends were Balguy and Hurd. ”

“ Before the Parliament adjourned, there was nothing but a trifling debate in an empty House, occasioned by a motion from the Ministry, to order another physician and surgeon to attend Wilkes: [1] it was carried by about seventy to thirty, and was only memorable by producing Mr. Charles Townshend, who, having sat silent through the question of privilege, found himself interested in the defence of Dr. Brocklesby! [2] Charles ridiculed Lord North extremely, and had warm words with George Grenville. I do not look upon this as productive of consequential speaking for the opposition ”

“ How can they forget that he of all men yet alive was most forward in the death of Charles Stuart; and he has but now justified his share in it. Whomsoever they let escape, they will never loose their hold on him. Not the new king himself could help us."
"Not even the king," she repeated dully; "nay, I know not if the king be merciful; but," she cried, suddenly starting up, "it hath come back to me; there is one near to the king who may be our advocate—Prince Rupert!" ”

“ The girl's bright cheek paled. "Master Harrison!" she gasped; "the nephew of Major-General Harrison?"
"Ay, madam," he answered, "the nephew, and well nigh the son of that martyr now in glory."
There was silence for a minute, and then the girl recovered herself and the colour came back to her face.
"But, good sir," she cried, "why are you in hiding? How can you be in danger? I know General Harrison was very forward against King Charles, and sat among the judges who sentenced him; but you—you must have been a mere boy when—when the king died. ”

“ The Lord hath owned us by marvellous victories, and the Cause is His, His day of reckoning is at hand, and Charles Stuart shall answer unto Him and His saints for the men he hath slain."
"But can they—dare they—touch the king? He is not as other men," hazarded the boy.
"Ay, will they," replied Harrison, sternly. "And if they hang back, the army will see to it that the work is done. In the face of the sun, in the eyes of all the world, shall the great deed be accomplished." ”

“ In 1724 he printed a Latin ode on the return of George I from Germany, and ‘Divine Entertainments,’ a book of emblems, with woodcuts, the last work he did in London of any consequence. The secret list of printers in London and Westminster presented to Lord Townshend in 1724 enumerates ‘Gent, Pye-Corner,’ among those ‘said to be high-flyers’ (Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, i. 303) . Among his employers were Henry Woodfall and Samuel Richardson. On 10 Dec. 1724 he married Alice, widow of Charles Bourne, printer of York, whose business he had taken up. ”

“ On 28 Jan. 1660 Townshend, with Lord Richardson and Sir John Hobart, delivered to Speaker Lenthall a declaration of three hundred gentry of Norfolk praying for the recall of the members secluded in 1648, and for the filling up of vacant places without oath or engagement (ib. p. 694; Kennett, Reg. Chron. p. 35) . In the same month he delivered a letter from Charles II to Fairfax, causing him to assemble his old soldiers and march on York (Clarendon) . On 14 May Townshend arrived at The Hague as one of the deputation sent to invite Charles II to return (ib.; cf. Kennett, p. 133) . ”

“ He excuses himself from seeing company, as favourite of the favourite. Arthur is removed from being clerk of the wine-cellar, a sacrifice to morality The Archbishop has such hopes of the young King, that he is never out of the circle. He trod upon the Duke's foot on Sunday, in the haste of his zeal; the Duke said to him, "My lord, if your grace is in such a hurry to make your court, that is the way." Bon-mots come thicker than changes. Charles Townshend, receiving an account of the impression the King's death had made, was told Miss Chudleigh cried. ”

“ There the sentries, who were stationed at the door, had some ado to keep back the curious throng, and many a sturdy country farmer shouldered his way into the house in the wake of his squire to catch a glimpse of his king, the ill-fated King Charles, who was to rest that night at Farnham on his last journey from the prison at Hurst Castle to the scaffold at Whitehall. ”

“ Near her stood the boy who had buckled on his sword eleven years before, to escort King Charles from Hurst Castle to his doom; a boy no longer, but a tall and handsome young man, with the bronzed complexion and alert eyes of one who has seen service. ”

“ Exuberant animal spirits, a brilliant and ever ready wit, boundless facility of repartee, a clear, rapid, and spontaneous eloquence, a gift of mimicry which is said to have been not inferior to that of Garrick and Foote, great charm of manner, and an unrivalled skill in adapting himself to the moods and tempers of those who were about him, had made him the delight of every circle in which he moved, the spoilt child of the House of Commons’ (History of England, ed. 1892, iv. 115-16) . Townshend's portrait was painted by Reynolds and engraved by Dixon and J. Miller. ”

“ This popular fear of agitators who might disturb the rule of the Merry Monarch chimed in very well with the feelings of the old cavaliers, who felt that heavy amends were due to them for the sorrows and hardships of the last twenty years, and no doom could be too awful for the murderers who had laid sacrilegious hands upon the sacred person of the king. With relentless activity they hunted down the audacious rebels who had dared to send Charles the First to the scaffold, and few were so fortunate as to escape the fate decreed for a regicide. ”

“ I should think it would be also an act of real justice to Townshend to say something to him about his conduct towards you, which I think as honourable and friendly as possible. If one could but join the power of the one with the integrity of the other! ”

“ He, and his friends for him, even attempted to ravish the honour of the conquest from Wolfe. Townshend’s first letter said nothing in praise of him. In one to the Speaker of the House of Commons he went so far as indirectly to assume the glory of the last effort. The words were these, “We determined on the 13th of September to do what we ought to have done in the beginning: but in military operations it is never too late to reform.” In other more private dispatches Townshend was still more explicit. These he ordered to be shown to the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Newcastle, and Mr. Pitt. ”

“ The universal tribute of Townshend's colleagues allows him the possession of boundless wit and ready eloquence, set off by perfect melody of intonation, but marred by an unexampled lack of judgment and discretion. He shifted his ground in politics with every new moon, and the world fastened on him the nick- name, which he himself adopted in his “champagne” speech, of the weathercock. ”

“ This, combined with the natural assurance and sense of power in the man, caused Mr. Townshend to hold his head pretty high, and to treat with persons vastly superior in social station to himself upon at least an equal footing. His easy nod, with which the great Bow Street runner favoured us in Harley Street that evening, upon his first introduction, was not very much unlike the salutation which Mr. ”

“ Townshend was of a proud, impetuous disposition, born with a nature more accustomed to rule than to obey. His family had for several generations stood higher in the social life of Norfolk than Walpole's progenitors, and when he himself attained to distinction in politics his position as a member of the Upper House was greater than that enjoyed by his friend in the Commons. As the power of the Lower House increased, and as Walpole became more and more the object of the attacks of the Tories, the pre-eminence of Townshend passed from him. ”

“ Townshend was a handsome burly man, of brusque manners and hot temper, but a loyal friend, and with his friends a genial companion. In parliament he always spoke to the point, but without eloquence (Chesterfield, Letters, ed. Mahon, i. 368) , and his haughty disposition rendered him inapt in the delicate art of managing men. An attempt which he made towards the close of his career to establish a party of his own entirely failed, and his differences with Walpole were aggravated by frequent ebullitions of ill-humour. ”

“ Lord Townshend’s conduct was equally insolent and preposterous. He set the whole nation at defiance; shut himself up with a low woman and her friends, and at his own table publicly ridiculed all parties, declaring he knew he could, and declaring he would buy a majority. Nor was this silly profligacy confined within the palace. He wrote satiric ballads on friends and foes, and distributed them without reserve. To the shame of the Irish Parliament, and to the dishonour of the English Government, that still supported such a buffoon, a list of pensions to the amount of 25,000l. ”

“ Even as a jewel of gold in a swine's snout——"
"Master Marshman, I pray you stand from the door; you have already meddled further in my matters than any other man could do with safety;" and, brushing past the minister, Harrison dashed out of the room.
"Methinks, Brother Marshman, you have forgotten Æsop his fable concerning the sun and the wind!" said the writer, turning in his chair.
"Tush, Brother Rogers!" answered Mr. Marshman, whose temper had risen rapidly. "Soft words are but wasted on this wanton generation. Women who forsake the modesty of their sex and ape the stature of men! ”

“ Sure this new king is not a Herod that he should make war on men for what they did as babes in their cradles! You were but a child in those days!"
"Nay, madam, I was fifteen years old on the memorable day that the people of England did justice upon a king, even before the eyes of all nations. I was already a soldier, and had the honour of wearing a sword, when my uncle's regiment kept guard round the scaffold at Whitehall. Though in years I was but a lad, I do indeed believe I felt in my heart the terror of the presence of God, that was with his servants that day ”

“ I'll do what I like with my own." He stepped forward close to Stephens, between him and Josefa. "Go out, or I'll kill you!" he said, raising his voice to a tone of fury.
For a moment the American paused, uncertain. The Indian was a powerful man, full as big and strong as himself, well armed with knife, pistol, and loaded whip, to say nothing of his fifty friends outside the door.
The hesitation was momentary. "I can't leave this girl to that brute's mercy," he said to himself. "Perhaps I can back him down."
He looked Salvador square in the eyes. "Where's Felipe?" ”