Wits, beaux, and beauties of the Georgian era . bad specimen even of the germs Hervey. The discoveryof the fraud perpetrated upon her, especially if it hadblighted her affection as well as her ambition, might wellhave embittered a sweeter nature ; and may to some extentexcuse, if it does not entirely condone, the dissipation intowhich she subsequently threw herself. As to her bigamy,there is no doubt whatever that both the Duke of Kingstonand herself firmly believed her former marriage to have 146 WITS BEAUX AND BEAUTIES been legally dissolved. And there is no ground forquestioning either her
Wits, beaux, and beauties of the Georgian era . bad specimen even of the germs Hervey. The discoveryof the fraud perpetrated upon her, especially if it hadblighted her affection as well as her ambition, might wellhave embittered a sweeter nature ; and may to some extentexcuse, if it does not entirely condone, the dissipation intowhich she subsequently threw herself. As to her bigamy,there is no doubt whatever that both the Duke of Kingstonand herself firmly believed her former marriage to have 146 WITS BEAUX AND BEAUTIES been legally dissolved. And there is no ground forquestioning either her claim to have been a faithful wifeto the Duke, or her assertion that she used no undueinfluence to bring about the disinheriting of his is admitted on all hands to have been a woman ofspirit and courage ; and she must have been possessed oftalents and accomplishments of no mean order, to haveexercised the fascinating influence she did long after herbeauty had departed. But, when all is said, one cannotmake a pretty picture of A SOCIETY WITGEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN IT would be unfortunate if the caustic little char-acter-sketch of George Augustus Selwyn, whichSir George Trevelyan has given in the first volumeof his interesting work on the American Revolu-tion, should be allowed to pass unchallenged for anadequate and impartial estimate of that genial wit, andby no means dishonourable man. Sir George, it is quiteevident, has been unconsciously biassed by his partialityfor Charles James Fox, on some of whose unpleasantercharacteristics Selwyn commented with a freedom andpoint which were quite warranted by the circumstances ofthe case, but which are extremely unwelcome to wor-shippers of the great Whig hero. It may be admittedat once that Selwyn falls far short of the standard bywhich we now try our public men. But so also does SirGeorges hero, Charles James Fox, as well as almost everyparliamentarian of the Georgian era. Selwyn was by nomeans the only possessor of a
Size: 1294px × 1931px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgreatbritainsocialli
