CHAPTER XII WHEN GEORGE I. WAS KING (1723-1727) Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale We now come to that period of her life when the Duchess of Marlborough occupied her active mind in buying large estates. She was very wealthy, and the best way to invest money then, and for many years after, was to buy land. Those were the days when towns had not denuded the country of its sons of the soil, when land repaid its value, and was considered a good investment, as it could not run away. In April, 1723, the Duchess of Marlborough bought the old manor of Wimbledon, sold by Act of Parliament, which had been in possession of one of the South Sea directors, Sir Theodore Jansen. She paid £19,650 for the copyhold on a lease of five hundred years; with this went also property at East Sheen, Putney, Mortlake, and Roehampton. The manor of this name was let for £250 a year. Some of the rents paid were ridiculously small to modern ideas, five shillings and two shillings a year, and even as low as one shilling a year, for a cottage! The beautiful old manor-house at Wimbledon, built in Queen Elizabeth's reign by Sir Thomas Cecil, had been pulled down and another erected in its place by Sir Theodore Jansen, and this was hardly completed when the great South Sea Bubble burst. Sarah had the house levelled and another built from T designs by her friend Lord Burlington, but, disliking the aspect, this also had to come down, and yet one more was built a little further to the south. Miss Hannah More visited this mansion when in the occupation of the Bishop of St. Asaph, to whom it had been lent by Lord Spencer thirty-six years after Sarah's death. She found in the library there a number of books given by their famous authors to the duchess, who had carefully written the names of the donors in the blank leaves, for, says Miss Hannah More, "I believe she had the pride of being thought learned as well as rich and beautiful." Among these, no doubt, were found Addison's Spectator in pamphlet form, Gay's "Beggar's Opera," Pope's Essay on Man," Burnet's " History of His Own Times," and many more. Probably they were burnt when the mansion was destroyed by fire in 1785. It was after Sarah had retired from court that books became her delight. In her earlier days she is reported to have said, "Books! Prithee, don't talk to me about books; the only books I know are men and cards!" However, she was not very singular in this; there were plenty of others at the court who had no pretensions to a love of literature, and preferred cards. Sarah added to this accomplishment the study of character and her own times, which enabled her to exercise much political influence, and which earned her the name of a "Wolsey in Petticoats." The Duchess of Marlborough's political opinions are freely expressed in the following letter to the Duke of Manchester, who had married her granddaughter : "24th August 1733 "I am ashamed to have been so long without answering your Grace's letter of the 9th August, which did proceed from my unwillingness to say anything to you: which might look like not complying with your desire, which I can solemnly protest will always be a great pleasure to me, in everything in the world that relates entirely to yourself, unless it be in what may turn to the prejudice of the public, and as to that principle I can never alter. "To preserve the liberties of England has cost a great deal of blood and treasure, and after the share the Duke of Marlborough had in venturing his life so often to secure them, it is not possible for me to assist in the choosing any members of Parliament but such as are most likely to act for the true interest of the nation. I think we have nothing left to keep us from slavery but a wise and honest House of Commons, and after having sent away King James to secure our valuable constitution, I would sooner die than give it up to any minister. And I am sure, when you reflect, you must be so reasonable as to excuse me for what I say, for if your Grace was my own son, and would for any reason make an interest contrary to the nation's, if I had a thousand votes to dispose of, I would give them all against you, or against any man living who has voted not to look into public accounts. . . Therefore my resolution is, when I know what members offer themselves at any place where my estate gives me an interest, I will certainly give it to those men who have the best estate, the best character, and who have not in former Parliaments given their votes to keep themselves in their employments. "My nature is, if I must speak, always to be sincere, and with the same sincerity I do assure you that I shall always be glad to oblige you upon any other point." The duchess wrote in October 1730 (correspondent unknown) about an election. She apologises for having written twice on the same subject, and then says: "I think your Grace is extremely in the right to make the thing quite clear, and to vote for him that you have promised, tho' he were not likely to carry it. I am sure I should do so in the same case myself, never loving to serve a friend by halves." The year after the duchess purchased Wimbledon she bought an estate in Surrey, the manor of Chilworth, and at the latter end of 1725 the manor of Payham in Sussex, from Sir Leith Bishopp, for which she paid £6540. In October of the next year the duchess paid £13,670, or about £3 the acre, for another fine property, the manor of Shortlands, at Goshurst, which came into the market and was sold by Act of Parliament. Hardly a year passed till her death that she did not buy one, if not two, estates in one of twelve counties. The principal of these was a property in Northamptonshire for 17,734; another from the Throckmorton family for £38,000; one in Staffordshire, belonging to Lord Falconberg, which included several manors; this cost her £29,000.1 Besides this, the duchess took up several mortgages on land and lent money to the Government. Is it to be wondered at that, with such an immense landed property, she found herself often having recourse to the law? All these were freeholds, with the exception of Wimbledon Manor, which was a copyhold. We must remember this exception, because Queen Caroline and the Duchess of Marlborough, a few years later, had a dispute over Wimbledon. The following letter is one of many written by Lady Diana Spencer to James, Earl of Findlater and Seafield, 1 See Appendix IX. for her grandmother, and refers to one of the duchess's suits in Chancery : "February 1723. "My Mamma Duchess having a headache makes use of me for a Secretary to give your Lordship a great many thanks for the honour of your letter which she has received to-day, and to tell you that she is extremely pleased that you like her manner of explaining the merits of the cause, which tho' it is not in the forms of a Chancery Bill are all facts proved and as true as anything in the Bible. Upon the encouragement your Lordship has given her, she will give you more papers before the hearing, and she does not doubt but you will assist her in everything that is just, and farther than that she knows herself incapable of desiring. And she depends upon your justice the more because she is a witness that the Duke of Marlborough and the late Earl of Godolphin esteemed and loved you, and she believes their friendships were always well grounded. She gives you many thanks for your promise of dining with her when you are at leisure. She won't fix a time for that honour because you will be always wellcome whenever it is easy for you to come, and she knows when 'tis without invitations you will not dislike a family dinner which will be always ready a half hour after three.-I am your Lordship's obedient and humble servant, D. SPENCER.' Mr. W. Murray, afterwards Lord Mansfield, at the age of thirty-three made a brilliant speech in defence of a client, and attracted the attention of the Duchess of Marlborough, who was so delighted with him that she sent the rising young barrister a thousand guineas as a retaining fee. To the duchess's astonishment, he would only accept five guineas as a general retainer. |