Memoirs of Sir Philip Francis, with correspondence and journals : Commenced by Joseph Parkes. Completed and edited by Herman Merivale
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[1740-1758.] Parentage and Family of Philip Francis — His Education at St. Paul's School — Appointed to a Clerkship in the Secretary of State's Office by Lord Holland — His relations with Mr. Calcraft and Robert Wood — Acts as Secretary to General Bligh on his Expedition to Cherbourg. PHILIP FRANCIS, the subject of this biography, was a native of Ireland; born in Dublin, October 22, 1740. His father was Philip Francis, D.D., the well-known translator of ' Horace,' ' Demosthenes,' and ' JEschines ;' author of the tragedies of ' Eugenia ' and ' Constantino,' and of several political pamphlets during the ministries of George II. and George III. The mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Eowe, whose father claimed descent from Sir Thomas Eoe, the British ambassador to the Great Mogul in the reign of James I. Whether she was a native of England or of the sister island is unascertained, and the date and place of her marriage are also unknown. The union probably took place in 1739, as in 1740 Dr. Francis was settled in a Dublin curacy, and was engaged on the press in the interest of the Castle.' The Irish paternal family was of English origin, and Protestant ; but when first trans- VOL. I. B 2 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1740-58 planted to Ireland is doubtful. Its armorial bearings were the same as those of a West of England clan of the same surname, and whose genealogical root is assigned by the Herald's office to have been honoured by knighthood at the coronation of Eichard II. ; and the family tradition derived its origin from that part of England. The grand- father of young Francis was John Francis, D.D., a digni- tary of the Irish Church establishment, first rector and vicar of Innisconnaught ; with Other after livings ; then Dean of Leighlin, and subsequently translated to the deanery of Lismore. Early in life the Dean had been ejected from his first living on account of his Tory princi- ples, but was reinstated. The Dean died in 1724, leaving a widow and five children, viz., three sons, Eichard, Tench, and Philip, and two daughters, Mary and Ann. The bulk of his property, real and per- sonal, he bequeathed to the widow. The testament- ary legacies to the children were small : to Eichard 50Y, Tench 150 J., Philip (Dr. P. Francis) 400/., and his books, ' and I desire that he may be a clergyman.' -To his daughters he bequeathed 600/. each. Eichard was a pupil of the well-known Dr. Sheridan, of Dublin, and entered Trinity College, April 20, 1723, being de- scribed as aged eighteen years ; he was previously entered in the Middle Temple, London, June 30, 1719, and called to the bar of that Inn May 15, 1724. One of Tench's daughters married James Tilghman, an eminent lawyer of Pennsylvania and secretary of the Proprietary Land Office. James Tilghman was the father of the Hon. William Tilghman, Chief Justice of Pennsyl- vania ; and of Eichard Tilghman, an intimate friend of Sir Philip. Mary Francis, eldest daughter of the Dean, in January, 1726, married John Baggs Esq., of Dublin, in the Irish civil service. By this marriage there were four children : three sons, Stephen, Philip, and Eichard; and one daughter, Mary. These details of the lineal and collateral descendants of the Dean have been recently collected, and are thus particularly stated, as his grandson Sir Philip maintained in early life an important and confidential correspondence with some of his cousins. Philip Francis, the subject of this memoir, the only child of his parents, early lost his mother ; in what year is unknown. As he retained but a slight recollection of her person, she probably died in 1744-5, and his father appears to have removed from Dublin to London not long after that period. Dr. Francis had first published his translation of Horace in Dublin, 1743, but it had a limited circulation. In 1744, as an accomplished scholar and political writer, he became known to Lord Chester- field, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland during the ' Broad Bottom ' administration. On that nobleman's return to England, in 1746. it is probable that Dr. Francis settled in England, as he first published the entire translation of his Horace in London, in 1747. He held an English rectory in Norfolk in July, 1749, his Irish letters being B 2 4 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1740-58 addressed to 'The Eev. Mr. Philip Francis, Rector of Skeyton, in Norfolk, to be forwarded by Mr. Andrew Miller, Bookseller, opposite Catherine Street in the Strand, London.' He left his young son in care of his Dublin relations, to receive the first rudiments of educa - tion in a free school of which Mr. Eoe, an eminent schoolmaster (the successor of Dr. Dunkin), was then the head. How long Philip continued under the tuition of Mr. Eoe is not known ; but as in 1751-2, Dr. Francis himself opened an academy for a few boarders of good family, his own son must have been for some time under his father, as Sir Philip claims to have been a schoolfellow of Gibbon. Now the historian of Eome, in his admirable autobiography, states that he himself was placed under Dr. Francis when in his fifteenth year, and which must therefore have been some time in 1751-2, and continued with him for fourteen months. Gibbon, of an erratic and indolent turn of mind in his youth, not given to study as in maturer years, reflects on Dr. Francis for neglect of his pupils — perhaps unjustly or in exaggerated complaints. It could not, however, be that the Doctor was inattentive to his own son. The stay of Philip with his father was probably partly on the score of health, and partly for preparation for a public school. Until his twelfth year Philip was of a delicate constitution, and requiring, from the quickness of his intellect and habit of mental applica- tion, much care. The irreparable loss of a mother had deprived him of that early and tender care for which there is no sufficient substitute. He had no step-mother, aunt, or elder female relative, to represent the tender love and watchfulness, or to inspire the instinctive affec- tions, of the child for a maternal natural parent. Such are the few details of the first twelve years of his 1740-581 AT ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL. 5 life, and of his early instruction in private schools. It is evident that his physical constitution was not strong, but that his natural abilities and spirit of emulation were above those of the average of boys. His public school education now commenced, as a scholar of St. Paul's School. The Mercers' Company's records of that noble institu- tion founded by DEAN COLET, register Philip's entry in the following minute of admission :— Entries copied from the register of St. Paul's School at Mercer's HaU. 1751 Nov. 22. Henry Sampson Woodfall. 1753 March 17. Philip Francis. Aye. 12 Parent's names, fyc. Henry, of Paternoster Row, Printer, Mr. Trigg. The Eev. Philip, Southamp- ton St. Covent Garden. 1754 fH. S. Woodfall. "I The two names stand together as the two March 9. I Philip Francis. J last boys in the eighth or upper class. (Woodfall leaves some time during 1754.) 1755 Francis appears as third boy in the school. 1756 „ „ as head boy, and leaves school during that year. But the young scholar was further fortunate in the tuition of Mr. George Thicknesse, the head-master of the school from 1748 to 1769. 1 Mr. Thicknesse was a superior scholar ; a sagacious, conscientious, and laborious tutor. A true disciplinarian, he was a just, kind, and considerate master, beloved by his pupils. The Paulines of his mas- tership were reputed superior Latinists and Grecians, many of them in after life becoming eminent in the learned pro- fessions, and successful in trade and commerce. In this narrative of Francis' obligations to the course of instruction in St. Paul's School, it is not irrelevant to 1 Brother of the singular 'Lieutenant-Governor of Landguard Fort,' Philip Thicknesse. 6 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1753 add, that he acquired there a singularly fine, legible, and facile handwriting, an accomplishment of a well-educated gentleman, of the highest value to a youth, and which fact will explain some otherwise mysterious feats of penmanship in his after life. In these times of comparatively illegible and vulgar male handwriting, and when it is too often difficult even to decipher the signatures to private letters, the attention of schoolmasters and young scholars may be advisably recalled to the importance of a restoration of this branch of rudimentary education. The Saxons of England were early eminent for penmanship ; and the later introduction of the Italian hand, numeral figures, and Venetian methods of book-keeping, greatly improved the English styles. The records of our public offices, and old mercantile correspondence of the last two cen- turies prove the early advance and excellence of this in- valuable ' liberal art.' Peter Bales, who kept a writing academy in the Old Bailey, and taught the children of many persons of distinction at their own houses, was a celebrated penman, and the author of a curious work on the art. In a public trial of skill, with one Daniel Johnson, Bales won a prize of a golden pen worth 20/. Colonel John Ayres, a poor boy originally from the country, and a footman, became subsequently a celebrated writing-master, teaching a school in St. Paul's Churchyard, and afterwards the author of several publications on pen- manship and account-keeping. He published in 1700 his ' Paul's School Bound-hand,' and numerous copper-plates containing examples of the ' mixt running hand and mixt secretary.' A later eminent writing-master, Joseph Champion, also author of several similar publications, was educated at St. Paul's School. In 1709, Eayner published a work on calligraphy, witli engraved examples, entitled ' Paul's Scholars' Copy Book,' dedicated to the Mercers' 1753] AT ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL. 7 Company and to the Eev. John Postlethwait, then head- master of St. Paul's School. A later edition contains also plates of Greek and Hebrew letters, stated to be approved by Mr. Postlethwait. Samuel Yaux was another eminent London writing-master, whose copies of various hands a few years later were engraved in ' Bickman's Universal Penman.' . It was not, therefore, to be wondered that a century ago the scholars, especially of St. Paul's and Christ's Hospital Schools were noted for their capital and uniform hand- writing, or that Francis, with his juvenile love of excel- lence and of excelling, did not neglect such a rudiment of essential education. Such were the unquestionable advantages and fortunate circumstances of Francis's elementary education. Five letters to Philip from his father, during his three years and a half continuance at St. Paul's, comprise the only memorial of this important period of his life. No letter from him to his father, or to any member of the family, is extant. The two first letters of Dr. Francis are without date or post-marks, but are apparently written in the earlier period of Philip's scholarship. They are interesting and credit- able to the parent. Dr. Francis to Philip Francis. I do not write to my dear Phil, merely to tell him I have cheer- fully got to the end of my long Northern journey ; nor even for the pleasure (to me the greatest pleasure) of hearing, in return, of his health and happiness. This letter, I hope, will open a correspon- dence between us, that may for ever endear us to each other. The years are coming on when youth and its activity, when age and its indolence, will make us cold companions, and very often divide us. Let us not wholly depend, my dearest boy, upon the affections of nature. Let us improve them into a mutual friendship and esteem by a mutual trust and confidence, sincerity and truth. From this 8 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1753-56 moment I offer you my whole heart, even all its weaknesses and frailties, without disguise, without reserve.. Shall I expect the same equal confidence without bashfulness and timidity, without artifice and cunning ? My understanding may not then be unuseful to you. It was purchased by follies, errors, misfortunes, not my own only, but those of others. May you make a better, wiser, happier use of it, than I have done. But, if it shall happen otherwise ; if you shall be carried away by the passions and their wanderings, though the world shall condemn, your father will forgive you, will support, and encourage you to happiness. Give him your friendship, and depend on his : let us love one another. Not to make this letter tedious even in its affection, let me beg to hear from you. Tell me whether you are still pleased with your situation ; or can I add anything to your happiness ? [Do you often drink tea with Sally ? does she take care of you?] If Mr. Dormer be in town, go some holiday morning, and breakfast with him. Tell him I live in a palace with a French cook, French wines, and English hospitality. Could I say more, I would write to him. If there be any letters for me at home, send them under a cover to Francis Delaval, Esq., at Seaton near Newcastle, Northumberland. Farewell, my dear boy ! may neither distance nor time divide us ; nor can they, while affection and esteem unite us. I am ever yours, PHIL. FRANCIS. My best compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Ely. I send you a trunk. Dr. Francis to Philip Francis. I thought, my dear Phil., that we had agreed that our correspon- dence was to be above all forms, all apologies for not writing to each other. And yet I shall always be glad to hear you are well, in spite of gooseberries, plums, and fevers. But I think you have got a special nostrum for a fever ; Jew Latin must cool as effec- tually as Doctor James's Powders. I rejoice with you at being so long head of your class, and I hope you will enjoy your superiority over your class-fellows by condescension, compliance, and, if they desire it, by assisting them. Genius and abilities are in general very happy possessions ; yet an injudicious use of them makes the possessor odious, and sometimes even contemptible. In learning, whoever knows and sees most is most humble, from a sense of the darkness and ignorance around him. Be it your lot, my dear boy, to be amiable rather than admired, envied, and hated. When you come into the world, you 1753-56] ROSENHAGEN AND FRANCIS. 9 must hide whatever superiority you possess, if you would turn it to advantage. Few people, very few, will forgive an insult to the generality of mankind ; it really lowers them, and they will take exceeding care it shall not exalt you. . .. As to moving into a higher Form, I could not wish you would press Mr. Thicknesse by showing any impatience in your desire. Think, my dear Phil., that it is not being in any particular place, but the figure you shall make there, — that gives the distinction of honour. In life, as in plays, we cannot all play principal characters. Let us, then, endeavour to excel in that which is allotted to us. Farewell ! if you have as much pleasure in reading, as I have in writing, you will easily forgive this very long epistle. I am ever yours, PHIL. FRANCIS. « From this year till Philip left the school in 1756, there is no record of his progress, except that he was entered in the Mercers' Company's minutes as then the head boy or captain. His predecessor in that rank was Philip Eosenhagen, of a Danish family, his contempor- ary, though senior. The two boys had been class-fellows and friends, though of wholly dissimilar characters. Mr. Thicknesse always mentioned the two pupils as the most naturally clever boys and the best scholars of his entire term of mastership. But he said Eosenhagen had neither perseverance nor moral conduct, whereas Francis had both, and consequently would get the start of the other in the race of life. Both, he said, had strong passions ; but that Francis could control them, while Eosenhagen would probably be the victim of his. This character of the two youths was given to Dr. Francis. The just ob- servation and penetration of the schoolmaster were remark- ably verified when they grew up to be men, as will be seen in the after facts and contrast in the singular careers of both. No portraits of two boys could be greater likenesses of their manhood. Eosenhagen, obtaining a St. Paul's Exhibition to Cam- 10 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1756 bridge, was entered in St. John's College. It does not appear by the Mercers' Company's records that young Francis was offered or declined an exhibition. It may be regretted that so promising a youth, and so good a scholar, should not have had the advantage and further discipline of university culture ; to which, in Trinity College, Dublin, Dr. Francis himself was chiefly indebted for his own advancement in life. On the other hand, it may be a question whether a boy of his peculiar tempera- ment, delicate health, and full young for college, was not as well placed in a public office both for health of body and independence of mind. The vis animi of some youths of the characteristics of Philip Francis, is their own best propeller and rudder ; while his father could aid him in his further classical studies and reading, as well as insure him probable early promotion in the civil service. Philip left St. Paul's School, receiving an honorary mark of distinction in a gold medal, in token of his proficiency in the classics and for good conduct. Lady Francis relates, in her MS. reminiscences of her husband, some curious anecdotes of. his juvenile shrewdness and observing mind. Dr. Francis took his boy one night to Drury Lane Theatre. In an interval of the play Lord Chesterfield entered their box and re- mained some time in conversation with the father. The noble Lord, decked in a star and blue ribbon, talking loudly, and acting as much as if he had been on the stage himself, attracted the attention not only of a party in the adjoining box but more distant listeners. The noble paragon of courtesy and fine words indulging in polite conversation with the Doctor, as usual, paused for some felicitous word. In one of his Lordship's stops young Philip promptly supplied the properly- considered word — the noble Lord adopting it — with the preface of a bow 1756] HIS SCHOOLMASTER MR. THICKNESSE. 11 and the remark, ' As the young gentleman has most cor- rectly said.' On another occasion, the father accompanied by the son, went with an evening party by water to Vauxhall, and told Philip that a distinguished military officer, Sir William Draper, was with them, and whose manners he considered a model of good breeding and worthy of imitation. Sir William was in full uniform. Young Francis observed him attentively all the way to the gardens. The Doctor, on landing, asked his son if he did not think Sir William a fine gentleman : ' No, I don't,' he answered ; ' I think he says what he does not mean.' ' And why ? ' asked the Doctor : ' Because,' was the boy's answer, ' he never looks one full in the face, and that is neither polite nor honest, is it, father ? ' The Doctor rebuked him for presumption, but often after- wards narrated the two stories as proofs of his son's early discrimination of character. It is only justice to the memory of young Philip Francis' eminent schoolmaster — and the scholar, it will be seen in an after volume, most gratefully, in his manhood, appre- ciated his obligations to this St. Paul's preceptor — to record some special anecdotes to the credit of the instructor. Mr. Thicknesse was a member of an old Staffordshire family ; he was educated at Winchester, and therefore from his boyhood trained in the discipline of a public school. After graduating at Cambridge, and as a younger son having to seek his own fortune, he was first an usher at Clare's Academy in Soho Square. Having the reputa- tion of being one of the best classical scholars in England, he opened an establishment for the tuition of youth in Charter House Square. The chaplainship of St. Paul's school being vacant, he was appointed to that office by the Mercers' Company, chosen on October 3, 1737. In 1744 he was chosen sub-master ; and the high-mastership 12 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1756 being vacant, in 1748, by the resignation of Dr. Charles, he was raised to the latter high and responsible position. The Mercers' Company honourably complied with Dean Colet's statute which decreed ' that if the under-master be in literature and in honest life according, then the high-master's room vacant, let him be chosen before an- other.' The school at his election was in a declining state. Under Mr. Thicknesse's conduct it not only revived but received pupils from all parts of the kingdom. The records of Oxford and Cambridge in a few years attested the university honours obtained by St. Paul's scholars. In the first year of his mastership 145 scholars were entered, and the whole number, to his superannuation in 1769, was 1,308. He was beloved by all his pupils, and retained their grateful and affectionate friendship to the close of his life. His discrimination of the moral and intellectual natures of his different scholars was one of his highest qualifications for a teacher of youth. He was accustomed to say that the boys of a school were not like the bricks of the school-house all moulded in one form ; that his pupils differed widely in powers and direction of mind, in temper and temperament, and in the physical conditions of health ; that some boys had no talent for the acquisition of the dead languages, and that a master must be content with their elementary instruction, as the birch and cane would not alter nature. Young Philip Francis, on leaving St. Paul's School, was appointed to a junior clerkship in the Secretary of State's Office by Henry Fox (the first Lord Holland), then one of the three principal secretaries of state in the Duke of Newcastle's ministry. Dr. Francis had been, when his son obtained his first clerkship, almost domiciled in Holland House, and was afterwards appointed private Chaplain to Lady Holland. 1756] APPOINTED CLERK IN SEC. OF STATE'S OFFICE. 13 Young Philip, in the fragments of his own autobiography (twenty years afterwards), states that his father, Dr. Francis, 'almost lived at Holland House, and was the friend and favourite of the family. He taught Stephen and Charles Fox to read, and Lady Sarah Lennox and Lady Susan to declaim.' Young Francis was an occa- sional visitor in Holland House at this period. Dr. Francis had not only written and published anonymous political pamphlets in the interest of Henry Fox and his ministe- rial colleagues, but was for some years one of the editors of and contributors to the ' Gazette ' daily newspaper, in the interest of the court and government. He enjoyed Henry Fox's full confidence, and deserved it as a faithful partisan ; but except in the small provision thus made for Philip, Fox cannot be called the patron of the father, Dr. Francis not having obtained his subsequent Church patronage from Lord Holland.1 Mr. John Calcraft, a second well-known public man of the period, for many years was Henry Fox's most con- fidential person and political ally, and must be here men- tioned as one of Dr. Francis' earliest London associates, who twelve years afterwards became the confidential political friend of the young Philip Francis. Mr. John Calcraft, though placed early in life in the civil service, and filling secondary offices in different 1 The political activity of Dr. Francis as a journalist of course accounts for the savage attacks directed against him by Churchill, as ' the atheist chaplain of an atheist lord,' if that line in the ' Author ' is meant for him — ' While Virtue to my conduct witness bears, In throwing off the gown which Francis wears.' But the composition of Churchill is so obscure, partly from want of preciseness and partly from caution, that it is not always easy to identify his allusions. It would seem that the ' reverend mediator ' who was employed ineffectually by a ' noble lord ' to bribe Churchill not to publish some lines entitled 'Ayliffe's Ghost,' must have been Dr. Francis. See Note to the Epistle to Hogarth.'— [Editor.] 14 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1756 administrations, could not be considered as a leading political man of his times. But his experience in public life, his early acquired wealth, his natural sagacity, and great ' borough interest,' invested him with a considerable share of personal influence and power, especially as he sate successively in several parliaments. Mr. Calcraft knew the value and power of the London journals and ' entertained ' their proprietors and best political writers. His City connections further procured him the intimacy of the leading members of the Court of Aldermen and Com- mon Council of London — an influential political body. He was the son of a solicitor of Grantham, of respect- able family and of reputable practice, and town-clerk of Grantham, his father being the election agent of the Rutland political interest in that borough. The Marquis of Granby procured young John Calcraft a clerkship in the Pay Office or Commissariat department. With a fair provincial education the young government clerk, by his talents and assiduity, afterwards raised himself to the office of Deputy Paymaster-General. Forming the friendship of Henry Fox, Mr. Calcraft became one of that minister's most confidential political partisans. But he ultimately gave up office to found an army agency and quasi- banking establishment. He held the agency of many regiments, and of several independent companies. He contracted for the coals and clothing of the colonies. The offices of Paymaster of the Board of Works, and Deputy Commissary of the Musters, had given him great advantages in subsequently obtaining business connections with the colonies, and all the principal offices of the army. His probity and punctuality in all his pecuniary engagements were universally acknowledged. Noblemen of the highest rank, and of different parties, consulted him on their private and domestic affairs ; and he was liberal 1756] RELATIONS WITH CALCRAFT. 15 in giving temporary accommodation to all his connections in need of pecuniary aid. When at least five noble families of England, after the long German war, derived their aristocratic origin, estates and titles, from wealth ac- cumulated in similar legitimate and trading pursuits, it is no marvel that Mr. Calcraft's later and justifiable ambi- tion was a peerage. He had earned and nearly gained admission to the upper house, when death arrested his entrance. Whatever his earlier political relations to parties, he attached himself lastly to Lord Chatham in opposition ; he reconciled that passionate and haughty nobleman to his brother-in-law, Lord Temple ; and his last votes were, after 1770, invariably given in favour of the liberty of the subject and Parliamentary Keform ; he publicly bailed the victims of a persecuted press when a crusade was preached against political publishers ; and his purse was always at their service for defence. In middle and after life he was in ' gay ' society, a gallant, and frequented the greenrooms. He was be- hind the scenes not only of Downing Street but of the London theatres, and celebrated in scandalous chronicles as for some time one of the ' protectors ' of the celebrated George Anne Bellamy,1 one of the most attractive and 1 This modern Lai's and courtesan was the daughter of an eminent farmer, one of the Society of Friends, of the name of Teal, who rented at Sion, near Maidstone, extensive hop-grounds. The daughter was brought up a Quakeress, but losing her father in her infancy, and her mother, beautiful and a widow, not being the most moral of her sex, the daughter followed the maternal example, and changed her prim habits and sectarian faith in a Paris convent school. Her Memoirs were originally written end dressed from materials she supplied, by a gentleman of Covent Garden Theatre, and published in one volume 12mo in 1785. They were afterwards extended to five volumes, and entitled ' An Apology for the Life of George Anne Bellamy, late of Covent Garden Theatre. Written by Herself. 1782.' And several editions rapidly followed. Although abounding in fiction, and calumnies on private and public men, and on the highest members of her own profession, the work is, nevertheless, a very curious record of the 16 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1758 popular actresses of her day. Her extravagant expense and debts, however, compelled Mr. Calcraft to separate from her, and the lady had her revenge in the publication of her so-called Memoirs. For some time this lady did the honours of Mr. Calcraft's table, his ' good dinners ' being frequented by many leading political and literary men. Dr. Francis was frequently one of the guests, as was occasionally his son. The Doctor, as a divine, and intimate friend of Mr. Calcraft, received his share of abuse in the Memoirs. The actress had played the principal female characters in Dr. Francis' unsuccessful tragedies, and therefore she had materials for her abuse and ridicule of the reputed author. There is no record to be found in the Treasury records of the day or month of this first civil appointment of young Philip, or of his first salary. The pay of a junior clerk on first entry is said to have been usually only 40/. or GO/, per annum. The three Secretaryships of State formerly comprised the ' Northern Department,' the ' Southern Department,' and the ' Department of the Colonies.' The documents and official records of these several extinct departments have been so mixed and partially destroyed that it is almost impossible to discover particular appointments of clerks. generally loose and scandalous manners of her time. Mr. Calcraft had died many years before the publication. He had repeatedly paid her debts, and after their separation allowed her an annuity. Among: his papers exists a letter from the actress, after the dissolution of their connection, admitting in the most contrite terms her boundless extravagance and her gratitude. It is almost needless to say that she died in poverty. Mr. Calcraft was not her first ' protector.' Of the same type of biographical worthlessness are the Memoirs of Miss Arabella Bolton (1770), against Mr. C. Luttrell, then member for Middlesex, and the Memoirs of Anne (Nancy) Parsons (1769), the mistress of the young Duke of Grafton. Yet it is on such loose and false authority as Anne Bellamy's Memoirs, that aspersions have been cited in after times against the public character of Mr. Calcraft and Dr. Francis. 1757] DR. FRANCIS'S TRANSLATIONS. 17 In 1757-8 Dr. Francis dedicated to Mr. Fox his trans- lation of Demosthenes and JEschines. It was published by subscription. Among the subscribers' names appear those of the Dukes of Bedford, Grafton, Newcastle, and Eich- mond ; the Marquis of Granby ; the Earls of Hillsborough, Ilchester and Eochfort ; Lord George Sackville, Lord Chesterfield (fifty copies) ; Lords Bolingbroke, Barrington, Frederick Cavendish, Waldegrave and Lyttelton ; Lord Mansfield, the Eight Honourable Henry Fox, the Honour- able Charles Townsend, Horace Walpole, Eobert Wood, Eichard Eigby, Mr. Thicknesse, master of St. Paul's School, Mr. Calcraft, Colonel Clavering, Andrew Mitchell, &c. Many of these public men were friends or acquaintances of Dr. Francis. The son therefore was early initiated in the characters of the leading political and literary men of the day. Mr. Calcraft in London kept open house, where Dr. Francis frequently, and his son occasionally, dined with many of the leading political and literary men of the day. Lord Chesterfield, Sir William Draper, Foote, Garrick, were among the guests of the great army contractor. At this period, when Dr. Francis dined at home, it was customary for men of his class to frequent coffee-houses in the evenings for tea or supper and conversation, and often for the amusement of card-playing. Young Philip's initiation in the official duties of a minor clerkship — in copying, examining, endorsing and red- taping government correspondence and papers — -was of course the usual routine ; with intervals for gossip with fellow-clerks and intermittent reading of newspapers. But his clerical labours again formed new habits, of value to him in after life. He was an early riser, and at this time usually living in his father's house, and alone most evenings, he still pursued with ardour his classical and literary studies ; having the great advantage of his VOL. i. c 18 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1757 father's direction and eminent attainments. It was natu- ral that a father should idolise such a son and indulge" in the most sanguine expectations of the boy's rise in life. Philip, although a youth of sanguine temperament, strong passions, and indomitable will, possessed great power of self-control ; nor does he appear at this critical period to have given his father any cause of anxiety in his moral or general conduct. Latin was his favourite classical study, and he applied himself particularly to the acquisi- tion of the French language. He appears early to have coveted diplomatic employment. His first small savings were laid out at book-stalls, in the purchase of second- hand books. In these early purchases he commonly wrote his name on the front leaf with the date of the year. Philip's talents, classical knowledge, and application were known to Robert Wood (a friend of Dr. Francis'), then Secretary of the Treasury,1 and he did not long await preferment in the public service. On the overthrow of the pure Newcastle ministry, in 1757, the first Pitt again headed a new administration ; ultimately joined by his Grace. In June of that year, the country being plunged in the disasters of war, Pitt was again called to the councils of his Sovereign. It cannot be questioned that whatever were the defects of the 'great commoner,' and his extreme anti-Gallican mania, he was the man for the situation. His genius, his decision of character, his industry, his eloquence in the Senate, his rapid action in military and naval successes, and his firmness under reverses, marked him as the essential 1 Afterwards Under-Secretary of State under Mr. Pitt, 1758-1763, and a^ain in 1768. The well-known authorof an Essay on the Genius of Homer, and description of the Ruins of Palmyra. The mysterious termination of his life is alluded to in the ' Fragment of Autobiography.' (Appendix.) 1757] PITT'S WAR ADMINISTRATION. 19 minister of the crown and the people. And although naturally an aristocrat, and overmuch a war minister, he was nevertheless a politician of popular and constitutional principles. Mr. Wood of the Treasury continued the right-hand man of the new Premier. On the ill-success of the expedition of Admirals Hawke, Kriowles, Broderick, and General Mordaunt to the coasts of France, with the object of destroying Brest, Eochfort, and other ports, the new ministry organised another naval and military force, chiefly designed for the destruction of the batteries, forts, and town of Cherbourg, on which port the French Government had expended a million sterling. Lord Howe was the Admiral of the fleet, and General Bligh commander of the military forces. A secondary object of this expedition was, to effect a diversion in favour of the great Frederick of Prussia by diverting and oc- cupying part of the military resources of France in defence of its ports and sea coast. Francis' sure friend and patron, Mr. Wood, procured for him the office of secretary to General Bligh, to which his intelligence and general fit- ness only could have entitled him at so very early an age as eighteen. His knowledge of the French language, and his remarkable aptitude of composition, made full amends also for his want of years. Seldom had a youth been advanced to so singular and responsible a public position. Secret instructions were drawn up by Pitt, in the King's name, of the date of the 18th July (1758), and communi- cated as directions to General Bligh. The command of the land forces had been refused by other general officers, and General Bligh reluctantly accepted it. So many c 2 20 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1758 commanders had been * victimised ' for ill-success in our many ill-fated expeditions abroad, that such commands were seldom coveted, but commonly absolutely avoided. The troops destined for the Cherbourg expedition, and the convoy of ships of war with the transport vessels, ren- dezvoused at the Isle of Wight. The minister's injunctions expressly directed an attack on the batteries, forts, and town. If a complete demolition of them was effected, or failed, General Bligh was ordered to ' proceed to carry a warm alarm along the coast of France and to make des- cents on any part or parts thereof; and to attack any place that may be found practicable, from the easternmost point of Normandy, as far westward as Morlaix, inclusive.' A further express direction ordered General Bligh to preserve communication with the fleet. Lastly, his in- structions directed the General, in case events or necessity required the fleet and forces to leave the coasts of France before order to that effect from England, to return home, and to land the troops ' at such of our ports as shall be most convenient.' Philip Francis will best narrate his own civilian's story, so far as given by the few letters to his father preserved. His first announcing his arrival at Portsmouth : — Dear Sir, — I arrived here last night at eight o'clock, after a very rainy journey ; it thundered violently all the afternoon. I imme- diately waited on the General, who received me very well, and I shall breakfast with him this morning. He was sorry he could not lodge me in the same house with him ; but every bed was occupied. The troops are embarking with all speed. I know nothing of this place, having not seen it by daylight ; but I am going to try my fortune : and shall write to you every day. I am yours sincerely, P. FRANCIS. "William says he does not know whether he lay on a bed or not last night. Direct to me at the Vine at Portsmouth. 1758] ACCOMPANIES GEN. BLIGH TO CHERBOURG. 21 A second letter of the Doctor's, dated 27th, is as follows, endorsed by the son as received on the 29th : — Dr. Francis to Philip. My dear Phil., — Let me thank you for your letters, and hope you have received mine, with your Table of Fees. I believe you must think no more of being Judge (a second Daniel most certainly). Though I detest quotations — ' Quid valeant humeri,' is no unwise motto ; and I am a little apprehensive you neither know your own weakness (for weakness, if you please, read strength) nor the weight you are attempting to raise. 'Tis foolish to be found out, and should be punished, like a Lacedemonian theft. To talk with- out simile — never put forth your whole abilities. However, at present your General must apply for your commission to the Judge- Advocate here, who will send all proper instructions. The rest is wishes for success. You know me all affection your PHIL. FRANCIS. We talk here of the King of P.'s Generalship ; — that he has got between Count Daun and his great magazine. — May I tell you that you begin your letters too near the top ; that to everybody but me you should write words at length — &, recd, &c., you, your, he, him, &c.; and should begin with capitals.1 You will forgive me. Pray remember your compliments to Mr. Calcraffc. He surely deserves your attention. Farewell ! London, 27th July, 1758. Intervening its receipt, Philip informed the Doctor of his arrival at St. Helen's. The first result of this expedition was successful ; Cherbourg being captured and temporarily held, its forti- fications much damaged, and all the shipping in the roads and port destroyed. The forts mounted 150 pieces of cannon. It was the first enterprise on the coast of France (in later times) which had really succeeded. But the weather soon became adverse, and fearing the fleet might be obliged to put to sea, General Bligh, following his 1 To this instruction Francis religiously adhered in almost all the MSS. which he has left behind him. Junius followed the same practice. It was, however, much more usual then than now. 22 MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. [1758 instructions, recrossed the channel, abandoning further attempts against other ports. Unfortunately a letter of Philip Francis to his father of the 16th August, detailing the fall of Cherbourg, is not among the family papers. But the following letter mentions some particulars : — Essex, Portland Road, August 19, 1758. Dear Sir, — I wrote to you on the 16th by the ' Success.' She did not sail till yesterday morning. "We are now within a quarter of a mile of English land. What would I give to go ashore, to taste fresh butter ! We shall anchor here in expectation of a fair wind ; and then for France again. It is generally agreed we have done the French above 1,200,OOOZ. -worth, of damage. Fifty-three mines were sprung at Cherbourg and the forts near it, with our own powder, 103 iron cannon and three iron mortars destroyed ; twenty- two brass cannon and two brass mortars shipped ; about thirty vessels burnt in the harbour ; contributions exacted to near 3,OOOZ. ; a large sum considering the poverty of the place, and the additional losses it sustained from pillaging, &c. I send you a copy of two inscriptions found on the Basin. Should we succeed in our next attempt, the General's recommendation may be of use to me ; and at present I think I am well in his opinion. At any rate this expedition will be of the greatest advantage to me. 