Christopher Hatton

“ He assumed in 1764 the additional name of Hatton, under the will of his aunt, Elizabeth (5 Oct. 1764) , daughter of Christopher, viscount Hatton. He died 16 May 1771. In 1746 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Palmer of Wingham, Kent, by whom he had two sons, George (b. 30 June 1747) and John Emilius Daniel Edward (b. 19 May 1756) , besides three daughters. George William [q. v.] , the eldest son of Edward Finch-Hatton's heir, George, succeeded as tenth earl of Winchilsea and sixth earl of Nottingham on the death of his cousin in 1826. ”

“ In rain or sunshine, in winter or summer, Barton Hall, beneath the shadow of Berne Hills, is always beautiful. In evening sunsets, with the red light on its great flashing windows, and a tinge of gold on the vane of its Italian tower, you might take it for the romantic retreat of a southern king rather than the home of a merchant prince of Old England.
Christopher Tallant was to all intents and purposes a self-made man. ”

“ His death took place at the house of W. Stafford, Esq. of Blatherwyke, in his native county, and he was buried in the church beside, where Sir Christopher, afterwards Lord Hatton, signalised the spot of his rest by a monument. He wrote five dramas, which are imperfect and formal in plan, but written with considerable power. Some of his miscellaneous poems discover feeling and genius.
THE PRAISE OF WOMAN. He is a parricide to his mother's name,
And with an impious hand murders her fame,
That wrongs the praise of women ”

“ Dibble soon made himself useful, and found enough to do at Barton Hall (where he had once been in the employ of Christopher Tallant, Esq.) all day long. This made his evenings happier; the music of the old piano no longer twitted him with his dependency. Mrs. Dibble, as had been her wont in the happy times, mixed every night for him a glass of gin toddy, and whilst they sat together by the fire on the conclusion of the “Old Hundredth,” she acknowledged that after all Thomas Dibble was worthy to be the husband of a woman who had had a boarding-school education, with music and extras. ”

“ In a city like Severntown the nobility were mixed up with the social, political, and religious welfare of the place. The citizens rejoiced in having such neighbours, and it was right that they should acknowledge the dignity and worth of their native aristocracy. In the present instance the union of an Earl of Verner with the daughter of a woman of the house of Petherington, and daughter of the late Christopher Tallant, a merchant prince, was an event of importance not only to the county of Severnshire but to England. ”

“ I even thought I saw a shadow at the head of the stairs."
Hatton's heart gave a great thump, and he felt his face glowing under his commander's gaze, but he answered steadily.
"It is possible, sir. Mrs. Post and Miss Forrest both have been coming along the upper gallery frequently, bringing things to both Blunt and McLean. Mrs. Post comes over to inquire every hour or so, and they tiptoe in and out as light as a kitten. Shall I run up and see?" ”

“ He goes out with the train-guard to-night."
"Hatton! To-night?" exclaimed the invalid.
"There you go again, Mac! What a bundle of tow you are, to be sure; I might just as soon touch a match to a magazine."
"Doctor, tell Hatton I want him,—must see him before he goes."
"Confound it, man, I told him to keep away. Why do you want him?"
"Because I must see him. You'll have a crazy man on your hands if you don't." And Weeks decided it best to let this headstrong Highlander have his way.
That night, in his field-dress and all ready to start, Hatton gently came to his comrade's bed-side. ”

“ At all these love matters my Lord Treasurer winketh, and will not meddle anyway. Hatton is sick still; it is thought he will very hardly recover his disease, for it is doubted it is in his kidneys; the Queen goeth almost every day to see how he doth. Now are there devices (chiefly by Leicester, as I suppose, and not without Burleigh’s knowledge) to make Mr. Edward Dyer as great as ever was Hatton; for now, in this time of Hatton’s sickness, the time is convenient. ”

“ This incarnate God receives weary, perplexed sinners still, and gives them solid rest. He teaches as no man ever taught; His words have spirit and life; nor can He possibly mistake our case."
Fletcher's correspondence with Miss Hatton continued, at intervals, for some years. She was much afflicted in body, and, as it would seem, harassed and burdened in spirit, and his letters afforded her consolation and guidance until the close of her life, to which he thus refers: "Poor Miss Hatton died last Sunday fortnight full of serenity, faith, and love. ”

“ Hatton, so far as I could discover, has no public-house, no shop, no contiguity of roofs (as in most English villages, however small) , but is merely an ancient neighborhood of farm-houses, spacious, and standing wide apart, each within its own precincts, and offering a most comfortable aspect of orchards, harvest-fields, barns, stacks, and all manner of rural plenty. It seemed to be a community of old settlers, among whom everything had been going on prosperously since an epoch beyond the memory of man ”

“ Richard the associate of gamblers and the loosest men in town, and sanctioning a plot to ruin Mr. Hammerton! This truly is sad news,” said Miss Tallant, reading Paul’s letter, and commenting upon it as she read.
“Yes, by Jove!” said Mr. Richard Tallant, dropping the remains of his cigar, and crushing it under his heel. “So-ho, Master Sneak! I’ll be even with you, my fine fellow. A devilish nice [Pg 103] thing to be tracked about by a junior clerk, set on by his sister, the daughter of my father’s bailiff. We’ll see about this. Shall I play the eaves-dropper any longer?” ”

“ The attorney, who was as brave and active as he was unprincipled and cunning, was not a man to be defeated without a stout resistance. Encouraging his party by shouts, and by his own example, a general engagement ensued.
Hatchie no sooner saw the foe of his mistress' peace, than, stepping between him and Jerry Swinger, who also had an account to settle with him, he knocked down the pistol which was levelled at his head, and grasped him by the throat. In the hands of Hatchie the attorney was as nothing. The stalwart mulatto cast him upon the ground, and, with his cord, bound him hand and foot. ”

“ Hattie, am I right? Was it one of those two things?"
"You don't love me," she cried again, with increasing vehemence. "You don't love me! You love somebody else! You haven't any right to talk to me like that. You thought I meant that odious valentine. I didn't mean it. Nobody meant it. It was nothing at all."
"Hattie," he cried, with a sudden access of anger, which was not altogether unbecoming; "Hattie, you shall not talk to me like that. You shall listen tome. You shall believe what I say! I do love you—I love you with all my heart. ”

“ He felt that it was now really time he should leave Montem Castle for good.
The Countess did not put in an appearance until dinner-time, and she was surprised to find her brother dressed and waiting to conduct her to her seat.
[Pg 137]
“Lionel has ridden Hector into Brazencrook,” said his lordship; “he fancies that he must make certain inquiries himself concerning the trains; he finds that it will be necessary for him to be in London to-morrow. It has suddenly occurred to him that he must really get back to India. Queer fellow, Mr. Tallant, my brother.” ”

“ Really, Miss Hattie, I consider it one of the most brilliant chances of your young life. You are too well educated, too talented, and, believe me, I say it not in flattery, too beautiful, to drudge your life away in a book-bindery, when you can ornament the highest circles of society. If you ask it as advice, I would say accept this proposition, for it would not have been made by Mr. Legare without he knew it would prove a happiness to his often sad-hearted sister-in-law. ”

“ Few will be surprised to learn that the Rev. John Hatton intends to publish another novel in the immediate future. Mr. Hatton's first book, When It Was Lurid, created little less than a furore. The work on which he is now engaged, which will bear the title of The Browns of Brixton, is a tender sketch of English domesticity. This new vein of Mr. Hatton's will, doubtless, be distinguished by the naturalness of dialogue and sanity of characterisation of his first novel. ”

“ Richard Tallant, in a whisper, as he stood quietly smoking a cigar near the open doorway of the summer-house. “The conversation becomes interesting.”
“In what respect?” asked Phœbe.
“Why, dear, Paul has made every possible inquiry, and he pronounces him to be no better than a swindler; and he says many men have been transported and hanged who have done nothing worse than Mr. Gibbs has done,” said Amy, with animation.
“Those are strong words, Amy,” said Miss Tallant.
“They are, by Jove!” said her brother to himself; “but true, I believe, by my soul!” ”

“ Such a place as Hatfield is, to my sense, one of the most beautiful things the world possesses—one of those things which we instinctively feel the vanity of any attempt to reproduce, just as we feel the indisposition to gossip about any deep experience. ”

“ Hatteras, in fact, went down to Bonny river town to meet the steamer which brought his friend.
"I say, Dick, you look bad," said Walker.
"People aren't, as a rule, offensively robust about these parts."
"I know that; but your the weariest bag of bones I've ever seen."
"Well, look at yourself in a glass a year from now for my double," said Hatteras, and the pair went up river together.
"Your factory's next to the Residency," said Hatteras. "There's a compound to each running down to the river, and there's a palisade between the compounds. ”

“ A crowded steamer is the most uncomfortable place in the world for a pair of lovers, and Henry and Emily felt the inconvenience of it.
But, if the position of the lovers was uncomfortable, Jaspar's was painful. They had the consolation of loving and being loved; but he was now writhing under the weight of an additional torture. The appearance of Hatchie was the knell of all his hopes, the precursor of ruin. To him it was a mystery, and all his endeavors to solve it were unavailing. ”

“ She aims high. Well, so be it. The fellow’s good-looking and conceited: he’ll humour the lady’s fancy, of course. He can’t marry her; that’s out of the question. She evidently thinks I’m a blackguard—that’s not so pleasant; but Master Paul shall pay for that.”
The next moment the Hon. Lionel Hammerton was announced, whereupon Miss Somerton rose from the piano, and the new comer was shown into the library.
“Who would have thought of seeing you?” said Mr. Tallant, throwing his cigar at a blackbird (which was hopping about on the lawn) , and coming forward to greet Mr. ”

“ It was no sense of duty that prompted Hatteras, of that he was certain, and he waited—he waited from darkness to daybreak in his compound for three successive nights. On the fourth he heard the scuffling sound at the corner of the fence. The night was black as the inside of a coffin. Half a regiment of men might steal past him and he not have seen them. Accordingly he walked cautiously to the palisade which separated the enclosure of the Residency from his own, felt along it until he reached the little gate and stationed himself in front of it. ”

“ He had his hand reached forward towards the handle as if to close the swinging sash against the intruder, when in an instant he was seized by Paul, tightly locked in a desperate grip, and whirled out on the balcony. Before he could gain breath to utter a cry, Hathaway had passed his right arm around the Mexican's throat, effectively stopping his utterance, and, with a supreme effort of strength, dragged him along the wall, falling with him into the open window of his own room. ”

“ Hatch is a cool, level-headed young man, not given to imagining things which are not there, and controls himself well. Therefore I knew that anything of charlatanism must be clever, exceedingly clever, to bring about such a condition of mind in him.
"Mr. Hatch saw, as others had seen, the figure of a phantom in the reception-room near the door of the library, or in the library near the door of the reception-room, he couldn't tell exactly. He knew it was near the door. Preceding the appearance of the figure he heard a slight noise which he attributed to a rat running across the floor. ”

“ Now Mr. Potter, 'ees a trifle young for matrimunny, miss—a trifle young, and Mr. Mapson, I 'ear that 'ees not got hany too much money, and hits a beggarly profession 'ees followin', miss. I 'ave 'eard this from Mr. Jerry's hown folks, 'oo more than once 'as cast haspirations against Mr. Jerry's friends, but hi takes it that wot they're sayin' comes near to the truth habout the newspaper as a perfession, miss. Now there's Mr. Crawford, Miss——"
Hatton's voice took on both a respectful and a confidential tone as he came to Jinx. ”

“ There was nothing to be heard save the hasty breathing of the American.
At last Hatteras spoke.
"Johnson," said he, "I thank you; you have done all you could to save my ship. But you could not do anything alone. Again I thank you, and now don't let us speak again of this misfortune. Let us unite our efforts for the common safety. There are four of us here, four friends, and the life of one is of no more worth than the life of another. Let each one give his opinion on what should be done."
"Ask us, Hatteras," answered the doctor; "we are all devoted to you, our answers shall be sincere. ”

“ Hatty is growing much more like herself, with the pertness left out. She looks a great deal better, and can smile and laugh now; but her old sharp, bright ways are gone, and only show now and then, in a little flash, what she was once.
The Crosslands have disappeared—nobody knows where. But I do not think Miss Marianne Newton has broken her heart; indeed, I am not quite sure that she has one.
In the afternoon, Ephraim came, and I went in a chair under his escort to Mr Raymond’s house. Hatty declined to come ”