Part 3 (2/2)

As to inable, and really wonder how such a ue, of which the history of one day will give you so-rooreat hoop of no inconsiderable weight, went to the duchess of cu and fro: all this I did not o, and am yet alive to tell you of it I believe tho', I should not be able to support London hours, and all the racketing of a London life for a year together You are very good in your enquiries after ot no teeth yet, which somewhat mortifies his two Maaieties must still have left her some time to think with anxiety and apprehension of the is We have a gli with her aunt and cousin in Orchard Street, in April 1788 They went to the trial one day 'and sat from ten till four, co all the celebrated orators--Sheridan, Burke, and Fox The first was so loe could not hear him, the second so hot and hasty we could not understand, the third was highly superior to either, as we could distinguish every word, but not to our satisfaction, as he is so s e all wish so well'

In August 1788, Eliza writes:--

What has contributed to hurry ed to pay soe,[29] and I am but just returned fro which we made some little stay at Oxford My cousin[30] ood as to take the trouble of shewing us the lions We visited several of the Colleges, the Museuallant relations at St John's, where I was ed to be a _Fellow_ that I hted with the black gown and thought the square capI do not think you would know Henry with his hair powdered in a very _tonish_ style, besides he is at present taller than his father

You ine fro journey, that things are in a quieter state than they were soo Had they continued as they were it is most probable M de F would have been called out, and it would have been a very unpleasant kind of duty because he ainst his own country the next two or three years, which she seeland Sheevents in Paris, the result of which was eventually to prove fatal to her husband

In January 1791 she is at Margate for the benefit of her boy, and, though the place is very e, &c She adds:--

M de F had given land this winter, but the turn which the affairs of France have taken will not allow him to quit the Continent at this juncture I know not whether I have already_Aristocrate_ or Royalist in his heart, has joined this latter party who have taken refuge in Piedmont, and is now at Turin where the French Princes of the Blood are asse some favourable opportunity to reinstate themselves in the country they have quitted I am no politician, but think they will not easily accomplish their purpose; time alone can decide this ine I cannot be wholly unconcerned about events which ree influence my future destiny

Eliza had another terrible anxiety in June 1791, in the failure of herfor a visit from her husband, when, if her o to Bath,--

a journey from which I promise myself much pleasure, as I have a notion it is a place quite after my own heart; however, the accomplishment of this plan is very uncertain, as fros, France will probably be engaged in a hich will not admit of an officer's (whose services will certainly be required) quitting his country at such a periodMyreceived a letter froest boy, Charles, is gone to the Naval Acade ladies, I hear they are perfect Beauties, and of course gain hearts by dozens

In November she says:--

Edward A I believe willin another month or two take unto himself a spouse He shewed me the lady's picture, which is that of a very pretty woman; as to Cassandra, it is very probable, as you observe, that some son of Neptune may have obtained her approbation as she probably experiencedher acquatic excursions I hear her sister and herself are two of the prettiest girls in England

Mrs Hancock died in the winter of 1791-2, and our next letter from Eliza is not till June 7, 1792 In the interval she had been--together with M de Feuillide, who had perhaps come over to attend the death-bed of Philadelphia--to Bath, fro to the state of her spirits Returning to London, M de Feuillide had hoped to stay there some time;--

but he soon received accounts fro already exceeded his leave of absence, if he still continued in England he would be considered as one of the Erants, and consequently his whole property forfeited to the nation Such advices were not to be neglected, and M de F was obliged to depart for Paris, but not, however, without giving me hopes of his return in some months, that is to say, when the state of affairs would let him, for at present it is a very difficult business, for a military man especially, to obtain leave to absent himself

On September 26 she writes:--

I can readily believe that the share of sensibility I know you to be possessed of would not suffer you to learn the tragical events of which France has of late been the theatre, without being ence afforded by the public prints, and assure erated M de F is at present in Paris He had deteret away

The crisis of her husband's fate was not far distant How the tragedy was led up to by the events of 1793, we do not know; but in February 1794 he was arrested on the charge of suborning witnesses in favour of the Marquise de Marboeuf The Marquise had been accused of conspiring against the Republic in 1793;[31] one of the chief counts against her being that she had laid down certain arable land on her estate at Champs, near Meaux, in lucerne, sainfoin, and clover, with the object of producing a famine The Marquise, by way of defence, printed a s, that she had not done what she was accused of doing, and further, that if she had, she had a perfect right to do what she liked with her own property But it was evident that things were likely to go hard with the Marquise at her trial The Comte de Feuillide then came upon the scene, and attempted to bribe Morel, one of the Secretaries of the Co documents, and even to bear witness in her favour Morel drew the Count on, and then betrayed hient and the Count were all condemned to death, and the Count suffered the penalty on February 22, 1794[32]

We cannot tell where Eliza was through this trying tih dangers and difficulties to England and found a refuge at Steventon; but we have no positive infor returned to France at all It is quite possible that she was at Steventon, and if so, the horror-struck party uillotine

It was an event to irl of eighteen, and Eliza reedy probably haunted Jane'stime to come

FOOTNOTES:

[25] _The Letters of Warren Hastings to his Wife_ Introduced and annotated by Sydney C Grier, p 456 _et seq_ For articles by the same author on the Hancock faazine_, April 1904, and 'A God-daughter of Warren Hastings' in _Temple Bar_, May 1905

[26] _Genuine Memoirs of Asiaticus_, by Philip Dormer Stanhope, London, 1784

[27] This did not prove to be the case

[28] This, and not 'de Feuillade,' is the correct spelling