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Page 1
MARY ISABELLA, DUCHESS OF RUTLAND
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
LAVINIA, COUNTESS SPENCER
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF HAMILTON
Portrait by Catharine Read.
MARIA, COUNTESS OF COVENTRY
Portrait by Gavin Hamilton.
ELIZABETH, COUNTESS GROSVENOR
Portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
[Illustration: GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE by GAINSBOROUGH]
HER GRACE OF DEVONSHIRE
The Dashing Duchess,--the impulsive, ebullient beauty whose smile
swayed ministers, and for whose favor princes were beggars! A
loveliness of manner, as of feature, such seductive color,--glowing
carnations,--and such golden-brown hair, with a fine figure, made up
an opulent personality, than which no more consummate type of beauty
has been preserved to us by painter or poet.
Georgiana Spencer was the daughter of Lord Spencer, afterwards first
Earl Spencer; but her impulsiveness, her waywardness, and improvidence
were a legacy from her grandfather, "Jack" Spencer, the grandson and
special favorite of the beautiful Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Her
"Torismond," she called him. His was a career of profligacy, a course
of error and extravagance. His mother was Lady Sunderland, known in
society as "the little Whig," from her small stature and her
persistent politics. Her party badge was always worn,--the black patch
on the left side of the face, as distinguished from the Tory fashion
of wearing it on the right side. So Georgiana came legitimately by her
beauty, her Whiggish politics, and her versatile vivacity of manner,
as well as her improvidence and indiscretion.
But her mother's strong character was a potent influence. She was the
daughter of the Right Honorable Stephen Poyntz, and was of high repute
for generosity, for sensibility, for charity, and for courteous
dignity of demeanor. We hear of Georgiana being a beautiful child; and
Reynolds as well as Gainsborough, both made painted record of that
childish beauty. Her brightness of mind gave her an interest in art,
in music, and in literature; and, though not proficient in the
practice of either, she had more than the society woman's knowledge of
them. At seventeen, she married William, fifth Duke of Devonshire,
ten years her senior. His was a temperament antipathetic to
hers,--unsympathetic, unimpressionable, and taciturn, yet withal of
the Cavendish characteristic persistency of purpose and honest intent.
The Duchess at once became a queen of society in the Carlton House
Court. Devonshire House was an assembly place for the Whigs; and its
lovely mistress was the hostess of many a statesman exalted by his
wit, as of many a politician with following by virtue of his station.
Like all radical companies, it was a motley mixture that found welcome
there. The Prince of Wales was a devotee. The then shining Sheridan
was a frequenter; but with the name of Fox has that of the Duchess
been more associated than of aught other. Her supremacy among these
companions was not in the manner of the French Salon leaders,--while
wit, knowledge, and tact were hers, she lived not by learning, but by
her liveliness and jollity. She was not the scholar in politics, but
the politician among scholars out of school.
It was a roystering, revelling company; and political as well as
personal penury became the portion of many as the result of these
improvident and profligate days. The episode of the Duchess's career
which is most known, is her purchase, by a kiss, of a vote for Fox
when she was championing his cause in an election, and canvassing for
votes in company with her sister, Lady Duncannon. It was said, "never
before had two such lovely portraits appeared on a canvass." A butcher
bargained for his vote by asking a kiss from the lovely lips of the
seductive Duchess. The price was paid, amid the plaudits of the crowd.
An Irish elector, impressed by the fair appellant's vivacity,
exclaimed: "I could light my pipe at her eyes."
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