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Stan Gibilisco

Second edition

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The DeMYSTiFieD series helps students master complex and difficult subjects.
Each book is filled with chapter quizzes, final exams, and user friendly content.
Whether you want to master Spanish or get an A in Chemistry, DeMYSTiFieD will
untangle confusing subjects, and make the hard stuff understandable.

PRE-ALGEBRA DeMYSTiFied, 2e ALGEBRA DeMYSTiFied, 2e


Allan G. Bluman Rhonda Huettenmueller
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-174252-8 • $20.00 ISBN-13: 978-0-07-174361-7 • $20.00

CALCULUS DeMYSTiFied, 2e PHYSICS DeMYSTiFied, 2e


Steven G. Krantz Stan Gibilisco
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-174363-1 • $20.00 ISBN-13: 978-0-07-174450-8 • $20.00
To Samuel, Tony, and Tim
from Uncle Stan
This page intentionally left blank
About the Author
Stan Gibilisco, an electronics engineer, researcher, and mathematician, has
authored multiple titles for the McGraw-Hill Demystified and Know-It-All series,
along with numerous other technical books and dozens of magazine articles.
His work has been published in several languages.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
How to Use This Book xv

Part I Two Dimensions 1


chapter 1 Rules of the Game 3
Points and Lines 4
Angles and Distances 7
More about Lines and Angles 12
Quiz 19

chapter 2 Triangles 23
Triangle Definitions 24
Criteria for Congruence and Similarity 30
Types of Triangles 34
Special Facts 39
Quiz 41

chapter 3 Quadrilaterals 45
Types of Quadrilaterals 46
Facts about Quadrilaterals 51
Perimeters and Interior Areas 59
Quiz 66

chapter 4 Other Plane Figures 69


Five Sides and Up 70
Some Rules for Polygons 74
Circles and Ellipses 80
Quiz 88

ix
x G eometr y De MYS TiFie D

chapter 5 Compass and Straight Edge 91


Tools and Rules 92
Linear Construction Methods 100
Angular Construction Methods 107
Quiz 112

chapter 6 The Cartesian Plane 115


Two Number Lines 116
Relation versus Function 119
Straight Lines 122
Parabolas and Circles 129
Solving Pairs of Equations 138
Quiz 145

Test: Part I 149

Part II Three Dimensions and Up 163


chapter 7 An Expanded Set of Rules 165
Points, Lines, Planes, and Space 166
Angles and Distances 173
More Facts 181
Quiz 190

chapter 8 Surface Area and Volume 193


Straight-Edged Objects 194
Circular Cones 201
Circular Cylinders 205
Other Solids 209
Quiz 215

chapter 9 Vectors and Cartesian Three-Space 219


A Taste of Trigonometry 220
Vectors in the Cartesian Plane 223
Three Number Lines 228
Vectors in Cartesian Three-Space 232
Planes 239
Straight Lines 245
Quiz 249

chapter 10 Alternative Coordinates 251


Polar Coordinates 252
Some Examples 255
Contents xi

Compression and Conversion 265


The Navigator’s Way 269
Alternative 3D Coordinates 275
Quiz 285

chapter 11 Hyperspace and Warped Space 289


Cartesian n-Space 290
Some Hyper Objects 295
Beyond Four Dimensions 303
Parallel Principle Revisited 309
Warped Space 315
Quiz 318

Test: Part II 323

Final Exam 339


Answers to Quizzes, Tests, and Final Exam 375
Suggested Additional Reading 379
Index 381
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgments
I extend thanks to my nephew Tim Boutelle, who helped me proofread
the manuscript and offered suggestions from the viewpoint of the intended
audience.

xiii
This page intentionally left blank
How to Use This Book
This book can help you learn basic geometry without taking a formal course. It
can also serve as a supplemental text in a classroom, tutored, or homeschooling
environment.
None of the mathematics in this book goes beyond the high-school level. If
you need a “refresher,” you can select from several Demystified books dedicated
to mathematics topics. If you want to build yourself a “rock-solid” mathematics
foundation before you start this course, I recommend that you go through
Pre-Algebra Demystified, Algebra Demystified, and Algebra Know-It-All.
This book contains abundant multiple-choice questions written in stan-
dardized test format. You’ll find an “open-book” quiz at the end of every
chapter. You may (and should) refer to the chapter texts when taking these
quizzes. Write down your answers, and then give your list of answers to a friend.
Have your friend tell you your score, but not which questions you missed.
The correct answers appear in the back of the book. Stick with a chapter until
you get most of the quiz answers correct.
Two major sections constitute this course. Each section ends with a multiple-
choice test. Take these tests when you’re done with the respective sections and
have taken all the chapter quizzes. Don’t look back at the text when taking the
section tests. They’re easier than the chapter-ending quizzes, and they don’t
require you to memorize trivial things. A satisfactory score is three-quarters
correct. Answers appear in the back of the book.
The course concludes with a 100-question final exam. Take it when you’ve
finished all the sections, all the section tests, and all of the chapter quizzes. A
satisfactory score is at least 75 percent correct answers.

xv
xvi G eometr y De MYS TiFie D

With the section tests and the final exam, as with the quizzes, have a friend
divulge your score without letting you know which questions you missed. That
way, you won’t subconsciously memorize the answers. You might want to take
each test, and the final exam, two or three times. When you get a score that
makes you happy, you can (and should) check to see where your strengths and
weaknesses lie.
You won’t find any proofs here. Instead of taking up a lot of space with
theorem demonstrations, this course concentrates on fundamental facts and a
diversity of topics found in few, if any, other introductory geometry texts. If
you’re interested in learning how to do proofs, I recommend Math Proofs
Demystified. If you want to delve further into analytic geometry and vectors,
I recommend Pre-Calculus Know-It All.
Strive to complete one chapter of this book every 10 days or 2 weeks. Don’t
rush, but don’t go too slowly either. Proceed at a steady pace and keep it up.
That way, you’ll complete the course in a few months. (As much as we all wish
otherwise, nothing can substitute for “good study habits.”) When you’re done
with the course, you can use this book as a permanent reference.
I welcome your ideas and suggestions for future editions.

Stan Gibilisco
Geometry
DeMYSTiFieD®
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Part I

Two Dimensions
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chapte r
1
Rules of the Game
The fundamental rules of geometry date back to the time of the ancient Egyp-
tians and Greeks, who used geometry to calculate the diameter of the earth and
the distance to the moon. These mathematicians employed the laws of Euclidean
geometry (named after Euclid of Alexandria, a Greek mathematician who lived
around the third century B.C.). Two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, also called
plane geometry, involves points, lines, and shapes confined to flat surfaces.

CHAPTer OBJeCTiVeS
In this chapter, you will
• envision “mathematically perfect” points and straight lines.
• Break lines up into rays and segments.
• Define angles and distances.
• measure and compare angles.
• add and subtract angles.
• learn how lines and angles relate.

3
4 g e o m e t r y D emys tified

Points and Lines


In plane geometry we regard certain concepts as intuitively obvious without
the need for formal definitions. We call these “mathematically perfect things”
elementary objects: the point, the line, and the plane. We can imagine a point as
an infinitely tiny sphere having height, width, and depth all equal to zero, but
nevertheless possessing a specific location. We can think of a line as an infinitely
thin, perfectly straight, infinitely long wire or thread. We can imagine a plane
as an infinitely thin, perfectly flat surface having an infinite expanse.

Naming Points and Lines


Geometers name points and lines using uppercase, italicized letters of the alphabet.
The most common name for a point is P (for “point”), and the most common name
for a line is L (for “line”). If we have multiple points in a situation, we can use the
letters P, Q, R, S, and so on all the way to Z if needed. If two or more lines exist in
a scenario, we can use the letters immediately following L, all the way up to N. (We
should try to avoid using the uppercase O because it looks a lot like the numeral
0!) Alternatively, we can use numeric subscripts with the uppercase, italic letters P
and L, naming points P1, P2, P3, ..., Pn, and naming lines L1, L2, L3, ..., Ln (where n
represents an arbitrary positive whole number that’s as large as we need).

Two-Point Principle
Suppose that P and Q represent different geometric points. These points define
one and only one line L (i.e., a unique line L). The following two statements
always hold true in a situation like this, as shown in Fig. 1-1:

• Points P and Q lie on a common line L.


• Line L is the only line on which both points lie.

Distance Notation
We can symbolize the distance between any two points P and Q, as we express
it going from P toward Q along the straight line connecting them, by writing

P Q
L
Figure 1-1 • The two-point principle.
Chapter 1 R u l e s o f t h e G a m e 5

PQ. Units of measurement such as meters, feet, millimeters, inches, miles, or


kilometers have no relevance in pure mathematics, but they’re important in
physics and engineering. As an alternative notation, we can use a lowercase let-
ter such as d to represent the distance between two points.

Line Segments
The portion of a line between two different points P and Q constitutes a line
segment. We call the points P and Q the end points. A line segment can theo-
retically include both of the end points, only one of them, or neither of them.
Therefore, three possibilities exist, as follows:

• If a line segment contains both end points, we call it a closed line segment.
We indicate the fact that the end points are included by drawing them
both as solid black dots.
• If a line segment contains one of the end points but not the other, we call
it a half-open line segment. We draw the included end point as a solid black
dot and the excluded end point as a small open circle.
• If a line segment contains neither end point, we call it an open line segment.
We draw both end points as small open circles.

TIP Any particular line segment has the same length, regardless of whether it’s
closed, half-open, or open. Adding or taking away a single point makes no differ-
ence, mathematically, in the length, because points have zero size in all
dimensions!

Rays (Half Lines)


Sometimes, mathematicians talk about the portion of a geometric line that lies
“on one side” of a certain point. In the situation of Fig. 1-1, imagine the set of
points that starts at P, then passes through Q, and extends onward past Q for-
ever. We call the resulting object a ray or half line. The ray defined by P and Q
might include the end point P, in which case we have a closed-ended ray. If we
leave the end point out, we get an open-ended ray. Either way, we say that the
ray or half line begins or originates at point P.

Midpoint Principle
Imagine a line segment connecting two points P and R. There exists one and only
one point Q on the line segment such that PQ = QR, as shown in Fig. 1-2.
6 g e o m e t r y De mys tifieD

PQ = QR

P R

Q
Figure 1-2 • The midpoint principle.

PROBLEM 1-1
Suppose that, in the scenario of Fig. 1-2, we find the midpoint Q2 between
Q then the midpoint Q3 between P and Q2, then the midpoint Q4
P and Q,
between P and Q3, and so on. In mathematical language, we say that we
keep finding midpoints Q(n+1) between P and Qn, where n represents a pos-
itive whole number. How long can we continue this process?

✔SOLUTION
The process can continue forever. In theoretical geometry, no limit exists
as to the number of times we can cut a line segment in half, because a line
segment contains infinitely many points.

PROBLEM 1-2
Imagine a line segment with end points P and Q. What’s the difference
between the distance PQ and the distance QP?

✔SOLUTION
If we consider distance without paying attention to the direction in which
we express or measure it, then PQ = QP. But if the direction does make a
difference to us, we can define PQ = –QP. Then we use the term displace-
ment instead of direction.
In geometry diagrams, we can specify displacements (instead of simple
distances) if we want to induce our readers to move their eyes from right
to left instead of from left to right, or from bottom to top rather than from
top to bottom.
Chapter 1 R u l e s o f t h e G a m e 7

Angles and Distances


When two lines intersect, we get four distinct angles at the point of intersection.
In most cases, we’ll find that two of the angles are “sharp” and two are “dull.” If
all four of the angles happen to turn out identical, then they all constitute right
angles, and we say that the lines run perpendicular, orthogonal, or normal to each
other at the point of intersection. We can also define an angle using three points
connected by two line segments; the angle appears at the point where the line
segments meet.

Measuring Angles
To express the extent or measure of an angle, we can use either of two units:
the degree and the radian. The degree (°) is the unit familiar to lay people, while
the radian is more often used by mathematicians and engineers.
One degree (1°) equals 1/360 of a full circle. Therefore, 90° represents 1/4
of a circle, 180° represents a half circle, 270° represents 3/4 of a circle, and 360°
represents a full circle. A right angle has a measure of 90°, an acute angle has a
measure of more than 0° but less than 90°, and an obtuse angle has an angle
more than 90° but less than 180°. A straight angle has a measure of 180°. A
reflex angle has a measure of more than 180° but less than 360°.
We can define the radian (rad) as follows. Imagine two rays emanating out-
ward from the center point of a circle. Each of the two rays intersects the circle
at a point; call these points P and Q. Suppose that the distance between P and
Q, as expressed along the arc of the circle, equals the radius of the circle. Then
the measure of the angle between the rays equals 1 radian (1 rad).
A full circle contains 2π rad, where π (the lowercase Greek letter pi,
pronounced “pie”) stands for the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
The value of π is approximately 3.14159265359, often rounded off to 3.14159
or 3.14. A right angle has a measure of π/2 rad, an acute angle has a measure of
more than 0 rad but less than π/2 rad, and an obtuse angle has an angle more
than π/2 rad but less than π rad. A straight angle has a measure of π rad, and a
reflex angle has a measure larger than π rad but less than 2π rad.

T I P Mathematicians often delete the unit reference when they express or write
about angles in radians. Therefore, instead of “o /3 rad,” you might encounter
an angle denoted as “o /3.” Whenever you see a reference to an angle and no
unit goes along with it, you can assume that the author is working with
radians.
8 g e o m e t r y D emys tifieD

RQP

M
L PQR

Q
Figure 1-3 • Angle notation.

Angle Notation
Imagine that P, Q, and R represent three distinct points. Let L represent the line seg-
ment connecting P and Q, and let M represent the line segment connecting R and Q.
We can denote the angle between L and M, as measured at point Q in the plane
defined by the three points, by writing ∠PQR or ∠RQP as shown in Fig. 1-3.
If we want to specify the rotational sense of the angle (either counterclockwise
or clockwise), then ∠RQP indicates the angle as we turn counterclockwise from
M to L, and ∠PQR indicates the angle as we turn clockwise from L to M. We
consider counterclockwise-going angles as having positive values and clockwise-
going angles as having negative values.
In the situation of Fig. 1-3, ∠RQP is positive while ∠PQR is negative. If we make
an approximate guess as to the measures of the angles in Fig. 1-3, we might say that
∠RQP ≈ +60° while ∠PQR ≈ –60°. The “wavy” equals sign translates literally to the
phrase “approximately equals” or the phrase “is approximately equal to.”

? still struggling
rotational sense doesn’t matter in basic geometry. however, it does matter
when we work in coordinate geometry (geometry involving graphs). We’ll get
into coordinate geometry, also known as analytic geometry, later in this book.
For now, let’s not worry about the rotational sense in which we express or mea-
sure an angle. We can consider all angles as having positive measures.
Chapter 1 R u l e s o f t h e G a m e 9

S
R

P
y
x

Angles have
equal measure:
x=y

Q
Figure 1-4 • The angle bisection principle.

Angle Bisection Principle


Consider an angle ∠PQR measuring less than 180° and defined by three
points P, Q, and R as shown in Fig. 1-4. There exists exactly one ray M that
bisects (divides in half) the angle ∠PQR. If S represents any point on M other
than point Q, then ∠PQS = ∠SQR. Every angle has one and only one ray that
bisects it.

Perpendicular Principle
Consider a line L that passes through points P and Q. Let R represent a point
that does not lie on L. There exists exactly one line M through point R, inter-
secting line L at some point S, such that M runs perpendicular to L (M and L
intersect at a right angle) at point S. Figure 1-5 illustrates this situation.

Perpendicular Bisector Principle


Suppose that L represents a line segment connecting two points P and R. There
exists one and only one line M that runs perpendicular to L and that intersects
L at a point Q, such that the distance from P to Q equals the distance from Q
to R. In other words, every line segment has exactly one perpendicular bisector.
Figure 1-6 illustrates this situation.
10 g e o m e t r y D emys tified

o
P 90 Q
L
S

Figure 1-5 • The perpendicular principle.

o
P 90 R

PQ = QR
Figure 1-6 • The perpendicular bisector principle.

Distance Addition and Subtraction


Let P, Q, and R represent points on a line L, such that Q lies between P and R.
The following equations hold concerning distances as measured along L
(Fig. 1-7):

PQ + QR = PR
PR – PQ = QR
PR – QR = PQ
Chapter 1 R u l e s o f t h e G a m e 11

P Q R

PQ QR

PR

Figure 1-7 • Distance addition and subtraction.

Angular Addition and Subtraction


Suppose that P, Q, R, and S represent points that all lie in the same plane. In
other words, all four points lie on a single, perfectly flat surface. Let Q represent
the vertex of three angles ∠PQR, ∠PQS, and ∠SQR, with ray QS between rays
QP and QR as shown in Fig. 1-8. The following equations hold concerning the
angular measures:

∠PQS + ∠SQR = ∠PQR


∠PQR – ∠PQS = ∠SQR
∠PQR – ∠SQR = ∠PQS

Q
Figure 1-8 • Angular addition and subtraction.
12 g e o m e t r y De mys tifie D

PROBLEM 1-3
Examine Fig. 1-6 once again. Imagine some point S, other than point Q, that
lies on line M (the perpendicular bisector of the line segment connecting
P and RR). What can you say about the lengths of line segments PS and SR?

✔SOLUTION
You can “streamline” the solutions to problems like this by making your
own drawings. As the language gets more complicated (geometry prob-
lems can sometimes read like “legalese”), such drawings become increas-
ingly helpful. With the aid of your own sketch, you should see that for
every point S on line M (other than point Q), the distance PS exceeds the
distance PQ (i.e., PS > PQ), and the distance SR exceeds the distance QR
(i.e., SR > QR).

PROBLEM 1-4
Look again at Fig. 1-8. Suppose that you move point S either straight to-
ward yourself (out of the page) or straight away from yourself (back behind
the page), so S no longer lies in the same plane as points P, Q, and R. What
can you say about the measures of ≠PQR, ≠PQS, and ≠SQR?

✔SOLUTION
In either of these situations, the sum of the measures of ≠PQS and ≠SQR
exceeds the measure of ≠PQR, because the measures of ≠PQS and ≠SQR
both increase if point S departs perpendicularly from the plane containing
points P, Q, and R.

More about Lines and Angles


If we remain within a single geometric plane, lines and angles behave according
to various rules. Some of the best-known principles follow.

Parallel Lines
We say that two lines run parallel to each other if and only if they lie in the
same plane and they don’t intersect at any point. Two line segments or rays run
Chapter 1 R u l e s o f t h e G a m e 13

parallel to each other if and only if, when extended infinitely in both directions
to form complete lines, those lines don’t intersect at any point.

Complementary and Supplementary Angles


We say that two angles in the same plane constitute complementary angles (they
“complement” each other) if and only if the sum of their measures equals 90°
(π/2 rad). We say that two angles in the same plane constitute supplementary
angles (they “supplement” each other) if and only if the sum of their measures
equals 180° (π rad).

Adjacent Angles
Consider two lines L and M that intersect at a point P. Any two adjacent angles
(i.e., any two angles that lie next to each other) between lines L and M are
supplementary. We can illustrate this fact by drawing two intersecting lines and
noting that pairs of adjacent angles always form a straight angle, that is, an angle
of 180° (π rad) determined by the intersection point and either of the two lines.

Vertical Angles
Again consider two lines L and M that intersect at a point P. We call the oppos-
ing pairs of angles, denoted as x and y in Fig. 1-9, vertical angles. In any situation
of this sort, the vertical angles have equal measure.

y
x
L
P
x
y

Figure 1-9 • Vertical angles between two intersecting


lines.
14 g e o m e t r y D e mys tifieD

? still struggling
The term “vertical” to describe angles such as those shown in Fig. 1-9 baffles
some people. they don’t look “vertical,” do they? We might do better to call such
angles “opposite” or “opposing.” But a long time ago, somebody decided that the
term “vertical” was good enough, and no one has ever changed it.

Transversals and Interior Angles


Imagine two lines L and M that lie in the same plane. Let N represent a line
that intersects L and M at points P and Q, respectively. We call line N a trans-
versal to the lines L and M. In Fig. 1-10, the angles labeled x and z constitute a
pair of alternate interior angles. The same holds true for the pair of angles labeled
w and y.
When we confine our attention to a single geometric plane, pairs of alternate
interior angles formed by a transversal line have equal measure if and only if
the two lines crossed by the transversal run parallel to each other. The pairs of
alternate interior angles do not have equal measure if and only if the two lines
crossed by the transversal do not run parallel to each other.

Q
M
x
w

y
z

L
P

Figure 1-10 • Alternate interior angles formed by a


transversal line.
Chapter 1 R u l e s o f t h e G a m e 15

N
x
w
M
Q

P
L
y
z

Figure 1-11 • Alternate exterior angles formed by a


transversal line.

Transversals and Exterior Angles


Again, imagine two lines L and M that lie in the same plane, and that are both
crossed by a transversal line N at points P and Q. In Fig. 1-11, the two angles
labeled x and z are alternate exterior angles, so are the two angles labeled w and y.
Within a single geometric plane, pairs of alternate exterior angles formed by
a transversal line have equal measure if and only if the two lines crossed by the
transversal run parallel to each other. The pairs of alternate exterior angles do
not have equal measure if and only if the two lines crossed by the transversal do
not run parallel to each other.

Corresponding Angles
Now consider two lines L and M that lie in the same plane, and that also hap-
pen to run parallel to each other. Let N represent a transversal that intersects L
and M at points P and Q, respectively. We’ve learned that in this special situa-
tion both pairs of alternate interior angles have equal measure, and both pairs
of alternate exterior angles have equal measure. But we can say more! In the
situation of Fig. 1-12, each of the four pairs of angles “facing in the same direc-
tion” constitutes corresponding angles, as follows:

• The two angles w correspond.


• The two angles x correspond.
• The two angles y correspond.
• The two angles z correspond.
Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
NORTH LIBRARY.

No. 1.
THE HONOURABLE PENISTON, WILLIAM, AND FREDERIC LAMB,
THREE SONS OF THE FIRST VISCOUNT MELBOURNE.
In a garden, the eldest in dark satin coat and velvet breeches. His
arm round the youngest child, who is standing on a boulder in a
white frock. He is also supported by the second brother, dressed
in a light-coloured suit. A hat and feathers lying on the ground.
By Sir Joshua Reynolds.

HIS picture was painted for Lord Melbourne, to whom it


did not give satisfaction, and he returned it to Sir
Joshua. It was engraved by the title of ‘The Affectionate
Brothers.’ Peter Leopold, fifth Lord Cowper, bought it
from the painter’s executors for £800.

No. 2.
PORTRAIT. UNKNOWN.

Black suit.

By Bol.
No. 3.
A LADY IN THE DRESS OF THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII.

No. 4.
PORTRAIT. UNKNOWN.

In armour.

No. 5.
RAPHAEL MENGS.

Greenish coat. Red collar. Own hair.

BORN 1728, DIED 1779.

By Himself.

ORN at Aussig, in Bohemia, the second son of Ismael


Mengs, a native of Copenhagen, miniature painter to
Augustus the Strong, King of Poland. Ismael brought up
his boys as painters; he gave them, when quite
children, nothing but pencils for playthings, keeping
them at work sometimes for sixteen hours a day. After a while the
eldest son rebelled against this close application, and made his escape
from home, taking refuge with the Jesuits at Prague; but Raphael
inherited his father’s love of art, and laboured diligently.
In 1740 Ismael took him to Rome, where the same rigid course of
study was enforced; the youth was constantly locked up in the
Vatican with his work cut out for him,—to copy Raphael, Michael
Angelo, or the antique the whole day long, with a loaf of bread and
a pitcher of water. On the days passed at home, the father kept his
son a prisoner in the same manner, and would go out for hours on
his own concerns, with the key of the room in his pocket. These
early lessons of industry and application bore ample fruit in the
future life of this indefatigable painter. Returning to Dresden, the
young man’s miniature copies of Raphael, and some excellent
portraits in pastel, pleased King Augustus so much that he appointed
Raphael Mengs his Painter-in-Ordinary, with a considerable salary. To
his Majesty’s surprise, and the great displeasure of Count Brühl,
Raphael declined, on the plea that he was too young for such a
post. Rome had great attractions for him, and thither he returned.
He painted a ‘Holy Family,’ which gained him much credit, the
original of Our Lady being a beautiful girl, Margaret Guazzi by name,
the child of poor parents, and as good as she was beautiful. The
young painter became a proselyte to the Roman Catholic faith, and
married his lovely model, nor had ever cause to repent his choice.
He remained at Rome several years, painting assiduously, and
studying in the Hospital of San Spirito; it was in obedience to his
father’s wishes that he returned to Dresden, with much regret, and
was obliged by so doing to forfeit many advantageous commissions.
Old Ismael, whose nature was violent and cruel, repaid his son’s
devotion by turning him, his wife, and infant child into the streets on
some trifling disagreement. The story came to the King’s ears, and
he once more offered the rejected post to young Mengs, with an
increased salary, a house, and carriage. This time the Royal bounty
was accepted with gratitude, for Raphael was now a husband and a
father. The King was at that time employed in building the Catholic
church at Dresden, where the Royal Family still carry on their
separate worship,—it being one of the few (is it not the only?)
capitals where the Court and the subjects profess a different creed.
Raphael Mengs painted the lateral altars, and had a commission for
the high altar-piece; but the longing was upon him, in no way
singular, to return to Rome, and he pleaded that he would execute
the order far better in Italy. He repaired thither, and, after making a
copy of the school of Athens for the Earl of Northumberland, he
began his altar-piece for Dresden. ‘The Seven Years’ War now broke
out, and Augustus was deprived of his electorate, and found himself
unable to continue Mengs’s salary. The failure of this income, added
to his own improvidence, plunged our artist into poverty; he was
obliged to take any orders that offered, and accept any terms
proposed, in order to keep the wolf from the door. The fresco which
he executed for the monks in the Church of Sant’ Eusebio brought
him little pay indeed, but great increase of popularity. He did not
carry out a commission he had received from King Augustus to go to
Naples and paint the Royal Family, supposing the order to be
cancelled; but the Duke of Censano, Neapolitan Minister to the
Papacy, urged him to fulfil it, and wrote to Naples, specifying the
prices which the now popular painter had received in Saxony. Just as
he was starting for Naples, rumours were set afloat which troubled
Mengs exceedingly; he was assured that a picture which had been
ordered for the Chapel-Royal at Caserta was not required, and that
the King and Queen declined to sit to him on account of his prices
being reckoned exorbitant. He was perplexed how to act, when the
arrival of the Polish Minister from Naples set his mind at rest. Count
Lagnasco assured him that the altar-piece for Caserta was daily
expected, and that the King and Queen had never demurred at the
prices, but were only displeased at the delay. He therefore hastened
to Naples, but, on his arrival, found the King and Queen on the eve
of embarkation for their new kingdom of Spain, and too much
engrossed by their preparations to give him sittings. They, however,
commanded a portrait of their son Ferdinand, about to ascend the
vacant throne of Naples. The jealousy of his brother artists made the
fair city insupportable to Mengs, and he again took his way to Rome,
where he was very popular, and had plenty of work. He adorned the
beautiful Villa Albani with classical frescoes, and painted numerous
pictures, chiefly for English and Neapolitan patrons. Charles III., King
of Spain, hearing him highly spoken of, now proposed to Raphael
Mengs to enter his service, with a large salary, a house, and
carriage, and all materials for painting provided; also a free passage
for himself and family on a Spanish vessel sailing from Naples.
Mengs accepted, and was kindly received by the King, but soon
found he had to encounter the bitter hatred of all the artists in the
Spanish capital. Giaquinto, an Italian, who had hitherto enjoyed the
Royal favour, was so disgusted at the success of Mengs, that he
abandoned the field, and, leaving Spain in dudgeon, returned to his
own country. Mengs was now employed in the decoration of the new
palace, and painted the Gods of Olympus in the bedchamber of the
King, Aurora in that of the Queen, and Morning, Noon, Evening, and
Night in the apartments of the Infanta, besides numerous easel
pictures.
He was also appointed honorary member of the Academy of St.
Ferdinand, where, being desirous of instituting new regulations and
bringing about reforms, he provoked much ill-will, and being himself
of a hot and hasty temper, bickerings and disagreements ensued
without number. Altogether, Raphael Mengs was far from happy
during his sojourn at Madrid; the climate was most injurious to his
health, which declined daily, yet he never slackened in his toil, but
worked unremittingly from dawn till dusk, and often far into the
night. He had already despatched his wife and family to Rome, and
now asked permission to join them. Suffering and melancholy, he
proceeded on his solitary way, and was delayed some time at
Monaco by increased illness; at length he arrived in his beloved
Rome, where the affection of his dear ones and the warmth of the
climate partially revived him. He now turned his attention chiefly to
sacred subjects, and in loving memory of his favourite Notte di
Coreggio in the Dresden Gallery, executed a Nativity on the same
plan, where all the light emanated from the Holy Child; introducing
his own portrait as one of the adoring shepherds. Pope Clement XIV.
gave Mengs a labour of love to perform, and in that light he
considered it, for he stipulated that he should receive no payment:
this was to decorate the walls of the hall destined for the reception
of the papyrus rolls in the Vatican. To work beneath the same roof
which his illustrious namesake had sanctified, was indeed a glory!
Although enfeebled in health, Mengs was comparatively content,
both in the matter of his residence and his work; but he received a
warning from Madrid that his leave of absence had been too long
exceeded, and it required all the kind intercession of Don Joseph de
Azara, Spanish Envoy at Rome, and Mengs’s great friend, to
intercede with the King on this score. At last there was a
compromise, Mengs agreeing to go to Naples to paint the portraits
of the reigning King and Queen for the gallery at Madrid. But his
industry seemed on this occasion to forsake him; when in Naples he
was very dilatory over his commission, and spent his time in buying
coins and vases to add to his collection; and on his return to Rome
he had only finished the heads. Then he had to conclude his work in
the Vatican, and take leave of the Pope, who gave him a rosary of
lapis-lazuli and a set of medals struck during his Pontificate. So little
was Mengs in haste to reach Spain that he stopped by the way at
Florence to paint the Grand Duke and Duchess, with many other
portraits.
He arrived at Madrid, and recommenced his labours in the palace,
to the great satisfaction of King Charles; went to Aranjuez, where he
worked both in the palaces and the churches; but relapsed into bad
health, and became so ill that the kind-hearted monarch would no
longer detain him, and sent him back to Rome,—‘with,’ says Sir
William Stirling, ‘a stipend far beyond his requirements, and a fame
far beyond his merits.’ Charles also settled dowries on the daughters
of Raphael Mengs; but alas! he had not been long at home before
his good and beautiful wife died; and he strove to console himself by
working harder than ever.
The winter was unusually severe, his studio was overheated, and
the bad air increased his malady. His frame became emaciated, and
his features so ghastly as to attract the notice of every one. One of
his pictures, purchased by an Englishman, met with a strange fate:
despatched to England by sea, the vessel was taken by a French
cruiser, and the picture sent to Paris. Eventually Louis XVI. sent it as
a present to the Empress Catherine of Russia.
In spite of the expostulations of his children, Mengs now put
himself into the hands of a German quack, and, to follow his
directions without opposition, took a lodging by himself, first in Via
Condotti, and then in the Gregoriana.
A nun at Narni had lately gained great popularity by selling a
decoction of holy jessamines, by which she worked miraculous
cures. To a strong dose of this medicine the quack doctor added a
still more efficacious dose of antimony, and thus indeed relieved the
poor painter from all further suffering, physical or mental. He
worked to the last, and died in June 1779, being buried at San
Michele, on the Janiculan Hill, followed by the Professors of the
Academy of St. Luke. Don Joseph de Azara, knowing his friend’s
tastes, erected a cenotaph to his memory, adorned with a bronze
portrait, close to the monument of his illustrious namesake and idol,
the divine Raphael. By nature Mengs was choleric and melancholy,
more prone to be ruffled by the petty ills of life than satisfied by his
success, which is generally allowed to have been far above his
deserts. He was self-willed even to arrogance in his opinions. Finding
fault with some Venetian pictures Pope Clement had bought, his
Holiness remarked they had been much admired by other artists.
‘Ah,’ replied Mengs, ‘they praise what is above their powers; I
despise what is below mine.’
He was severe on other Art writers, and especially on the works of
Sir Joshua Reynolds; Azara said he was very truthful, and tells how
on one occasion Mengs declared he had never taken a pinch of
snuff, though in so doing he would have redeemed a collection of
valuable snuff-boxes, the presents of many grandees, from the
clutches of the Custom-House officers, who seized them as
merchandise. Yet he practised a hoax on his friend Winckelman, and
allowed him to publish in his book the description of a ‘Ganymede’
by Mengs, which the painter had passed off on the Professor as an
antique. He was a faithful and affectionate husband, a tender and
loving father, and gave his children a good education,—but little
beside, for, with all the riches he had acquired, he was both
extravagant and improvident, and at his death he only left his
collections of coins and casts, bequeathed to the King of Spain, and
a number of engravings, which were bought by the Empress of
Russia. Mengs’s eldest daughter, Anna Maria, was a successful
portrait-painter; married to Manuel Salvador Camoni, a member of
the Academy of San Fernando, she died at Madrid in 1798. He would
not allow his sons to become painters, ‘for,’ said he, ‘if they were
inferior to me, I should despise them; if superior, I should be jealous
of them.’ One of his sons became a soldier in the service of Spain.
Mengs wrote much on the subject of Art, had great command of
language, and was a good linguist.
This picture was painted expressly for the third Earl Cowper.

No. 6.
CHARLES JAMES FOX.

Dark coat. White cravat.

By Hoppner.

No. 7.
FATHER OF JAMES NORTHCOTE THE PAINTER.

Dark coat. White hair. Red curtain.

By his Son.

OTWITHSTANDING that he exercised the modest trade


of a watchmaker in his native town of Plymouth,
Northcote boasted of a long pedigree, and maintained
that his family was of very good standing in the county.
But his pride did not prevent his wishing his son James
to follow the same trade, while the young man had set his heart on
being a painter. In the notice of the future Royal Academician’s life, we
shall find every particular connected with James’s rise to eminence.
Among his numerous works, he painted the portrait in question of the
father who had done all in his power to thwart his son’s artistic
proclivities.
This picture was bought at Northcote’s sale by the fifth Earl
Cowper.

No. 8.
SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.

Red gown, bordered with white fur.

BORN 1658, DIED 1744.

By Sir Godfrey Kneller.

HE youngest daughter of Richard Jennings, Esq. of


Sundridge, near St. Albans, by the daughter and heir of
Sir Gifford Hornhurst. When quite young she went to
Court, where her sister Frances (afterwards Lady
Tyrconnell) was already remarkable, as much for the
laxity of her conduct as for her beauty. Sarah’s features may not have
been as regular as those of her sister, but her countenance was most
expressive, her complexion beautiful, and the profusion of her fair hair,
formed a most attractive combination. Amidst her crowd of adorers,
the young, handsome, and insinuating Colonel Churchill stood pre-
eminent; he was poor, and by many accused of avarice already, yet he
preferred the portionless girl to a rich heiress with a plain face, when
the match was suggested to him.
Sarah Jennings was a woman of inordinate ambition and iron will,
and she made use of her close friendship with the Princess
(afterwards Queen) Anne to rise in the world and push her
husband’s fortunes, even before his own distinguished talents had
insured his eminence. The tyranny which the high-spirited, hot-
tempered Lady of the Bedchamber exercised over her Royal mistress
for many years are matters too well known to be here recapitulated.
The romantic correspondence between ‘Mrs. Morley’ and ‘Mrs.
Freeman,’ showing the manner in which Queen Anne, even after her
marriage, gave herself up to the dominion of her favourite, until the
self-imposed yoke became intolerable, and was suddenly and
completely severed, are historical facts bound up with public events.
The Duchess of Marlborough was supplanted by her own protégée,
Mrs. Masham, and peremptorily dismissed, in spite of ‘rages,
prayers, and scenes.’ Voltaire says: ‘Quelques paires de gants qu’elle
refusa à la Reine, un verre d’eau qu’elle laissa tomber sur la robe de
Madame Masham, changèrent la face de Europe!’—alluding to the
political changes which followed the downfall of Sarah. In her latter
days her temper became ungovernable; she quarrelled with her
husband, her son-in-law, her grandchildren; and on one occasion,
when the Duke, wishing to pacify her rage, complimented her on her
long fair hair, which was still luxuriant, the furious lady cut it off, and
flung it in her husband’s face! At his death a long coil of golden
tresses was found in the Duke’s drawer. Sarah survived her husband
twenty years, and, in spite of her age (it must be remembered she
was very rich), had many suitors, amongst them the Duke of
Somerset and Lord Coningsby. To the latter, after reminding him she
was sixty-three, she replied: ‘Were I only thirty, and you could lay
the world at my feet, I would never bestow on you the heart and
hand which belonged exclusively to John, Duke of Marlborough.’
Lady Cowper (the Chancellor’s wife) saw a great deal of the
Duchess at Court; they exchanged constant visits, and
corresponded, but Lady Cowper had no opinion of her Grace; she
describes her trying to make mischief by repeating ill-natured
speeches, and goes on to say: ‘She is certainly an ill woman, and
does not care what she says of anybody, to wreak her malice or
revenge.’

No. 9.
CHARLOTTE, COUNTESS FAUCONBERG.

Peeress’s robes.

HE was the only daughter of Sir Matthew Lamb, and


sister to Peniston, first Viscount Melbourne. Married in
1766 Henry Belasyse, second Earl Fauconberg, a Lord of
the Bedchamber, and Lord-Lieutenant of the North
Riding of Yorkshire. They had four daughters, co-
heiresses; but the title is extinct.

No. 10.
PORTRAIT. UNKNOWN.

Man in blue velvet coat, braided.

No. 11.
UNCERTAIN.

Dark coat. White cravat.

No. 12.
ROBERT HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD.

Black and gold dress.

BORN 1661, DIED 1724.


TUDIED under the famous Dr. Birch (who boasted of the
number of statesmen he had educated), and showed
great promise. In 1688 he raised a troop of horse for
the service of William of Orange, whom he joined, but
who showed him no particular favour. Harley sat in
Parliament, but waited for office till 1704, when Queen Anne gave him
a seat in the Council, and made him Secretary of State. He was much
opposed to Godolphin and Marlborough, and made common cause
with the Queen’s new favourite, Mrs. Masham, to overthrow the power
of the Whigs.
The Ministers insisted on his dismissal, but Anne stood by him as
long as she could; when Harley was compelled to resign, the Queen
said to him: ‘You see the unfortunate condition of monarchs,—they
are obliged to give up their friends to please their enemies;’ but so
high was Anne’s opinion of Harley, that she constantly consulted him
on public affairs, when out of office.
On the downfall of the Whig Administration, he was made
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Treasurer.
He was much censured, even by his own party, for some of his
financial measures, by which, however, he enriched the Royal
coffers. In March 1711, an event happened that made a great noise,
and rendered Harley the hero of the day. A French adventurer, called
Bourlie, or the Marquis de Guiscard and Langalleve, was a shifty
individual, who acted first as a spy of England against France, and
then of France against England, being in the pay of both. His
intrigues were discovered, and he was brought before the Privy
Council. Believing that Harley had been instrumental in his
detection, he resolved to be revenged. While waiting his turn for
examination, he found means to secrete about his person a penknife
which was lying on the table, among some papers. No sooner was
he brought forward than he rushed in a fury upon Harley, and
stabbed him several times, the Minister falling senseless on the
ground, covered with blood. A scene of confusion ensued, and the
Duke of Buckingham, drawing his sword, wounded the assassin,
who was conveyed to Newgate, where he died in a few days, either
from the effect of the sword-thrusts, or by his own hand.
The event seemed to have revived Harley’s popularity: both
Houses presented an address to the Queen, assuring her that
Harley’s loyalty had brought this attack upon him, etc. etc., and
when he reappeared in the House, a brilliant reception awaited him;
and a Bill was passed making an attempt on the life of a Privy
Councillor a felony which deprived the offender of benefit of clergy.
In the same year, Robert Harley, being then Lord High Treasurer,
was created Baron Wigmore, and Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, and
next year he received the Garter, and became Prime Minister of
England.
Lords Oxford and Bolingbroke at first worked together to
withstand the power of the Opposition, and to bring about the
pacification of Europe; and the Peace of Utrecht added to the
popularity of the ministerial party. But dissensions arose between
Bolingbroke and the Premier, and recriminations and fresh intrigues,
in which Mrs. Masham was implicated, all of which belong to
England’s political history.
Oxford was deprived of all his offices, and accused of plotting in
favour of the Pretender. The Queen died, and in 1715 he was sent to
the Tower, on an accusation of high treason. He was imprisoned for
two years, and on his release gave himself up to the enjoyment of
art and literature; he formed a magnificent library, which cost him a
fortune, not only from the splendour of the works themselves, but
on account of their sumptuous binding. His collection of MSS., called
after him the Harleian MSS., which was afterwards greatly increased
by his son, is now one of the glories of the British Museum; it was
purchased by the Government after the second Lord Oxford’s death.
Few men have been more eulogised on the one hand, and reviled
on the other, but he has been unanimously described as a kind
patron of men of letters.
It was Harley who brought into operation the measure known to
posterity as ‘The South Sea Bubble,’ which entailed ruin on numbers;
and in spite of much opposition he also established State lotteries.
Lord Oxford was twice married: first to Elizabeth, daughter of
Thomas Foley, of Whitley Court, county Worcester, by whom he had
one son and two daughters; and secondly, to Sarah, daughter of
Thomas Myddleton, Esq., who was childless.

No. 13.
FIELD-MARSHAL HENRY OF NASSAU, LORD OF AUVERQUERQUE.

Father of the first Earl of Grantham, grandfather of


Henrietta, wife to the second Earl Cowper.

No. 14.
LADY ANNE COLLETON.

Blue gown, trimmed with white lace.

DIED 1740.

By Sir Godfrey Kneller.

HE was the second daughter of the first Earl Cowper, by


his second wife, Mary Clavering. She married, in 1731,
James Colleton, Esq. of Haynes Hill, county Berks,
grandson of Sir James Colleton, Bart.

No. 15.
LADY MILBANKE.

White gown. Holding a pink scarf.

She was the daughter and heir of John Hedworth, Esq., M.P., wife
of Sir Ralph Milbanke, of Halnaby, M.P., and mother of the first
Viscountess Melbourne.

No. 16.
ELIZABETH, WIFE OF THE FIRST VISCOUNT MELBOURNE.

Light-coloured gown. White veil. Scarf. Coaxing her baby, who is


seated on a cradle beside her.

DIED 1818.

By Sir Joshua Reynolds.

She was the only daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, of Halnaby Hall,
county York. In 1769 she married Sir Peniston Lamb, Bart., M.P., who
was created Viscount Melbourne in 1770. She was a beautiful young
woman of twenty when she first went to London, and took the town
by storm. She was as much admired for her vivacity as her beauty,
and Sir Joshua Reynolds speaks of her as figuring at one of the
fashionable masquerades of the day in domino and tricorne hat, as
‘a pretty fellow’ or maccaroni, with the Duchess of Ancaster and
Lady Fordyce, and a charming portrait, in possession of Lord
Southampton, represents her in this costume. Lady Melbourne
persuaded her husband to buy a house in Piccadilly from Mr. Fox
(father of Charles James), who had been a friend of Sir Matthew
Lamb, next door to Burlington House, which cost a large sum. Lady
Melbourne called it after her husband’s title, and took the greatest
delight in furnishing and adorning the interior, on which work she
employed Cipriani, Wheatley, the humorous designer Rebecca, and
all the best decorative artists of the day. The society was as brilliant
as the walls which encircled them; and Royalty, fashion, beauty, and
talent flocked to the receptions at Melbourne House, whose master,
bent on pleasing his beautiful wife, threw open his gates with lavish
hospitality. Sir Joshua was an intimate, as well as a general guest,
and thus had many opportunities of studying the form and features
which he afterwards immortalised in the picture that heads this
notice. It was painted in 1770, just after Sir Peniston Lamb’s
elevation to the peerage and the birth of his eldest son.
No sooner was the London house completed, than Lady
Melbourne turned her attention to the embellishment of her
husband’s country seat in Hertfordshire, where, in company with her
chosen friend, Mrs. Damer (alike charming as a woman and an
artist), she planned and arranged the internal decorations of Brocket
Hall. Wheatley was again called in, and, with the assistance of
Mortimer, painted the ceilings with allegorical subjects. The two
ladies were also much addicted to the pastime of private theatricals,
as was their mutual friend, the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire;
while such names as Sheridan, Fox, Horace Walpole, and other
celebrities, figured as actors and authors in Lady Melbourne’s
company. It was here, doubtless, that Lord Egremont (then a youth)
imbibed that love of art, and that taste for the society of artists,
which made him so noble and munificent a patron, to the end of a
long life. He was a great friend of the Melbournes, and loved to see
his ‘three young lambs’ gambolling over the greensward in his
spacious park at Petworth.
Lady Melbourne was very popular with the Royal Family, and one
day the Duke of York called on her, and in the course of
conversation became very enthusiastic in his admiration of
Melbourne House. He confessed he was weary of his own at
Whitehall, and would gladly move into her neighbourhood. The lady
laughed, and said, for her part, she often wished to exchange the
chimes of St. James’s Church for those of Westminster Abbey; and
they talked on, half jestingly, half in earnest, till the possibility of an
exchange of residence was mooted. It appeared strange, but
perhaps the amateur house-decorator was lured by the prospect of
new walls to beautify, fresh fields to conquer. Before the Duke took
his leave, he had gained her Ladyship’s promise to discuss the
subject with her husband: ‘For you know, dear Lady Melbourne, you
always have your way with everybody, especially with my Lord.’
His Royal Highness was right: if Lord Melbourne raised any
objection at first, it was soon overcome; the consent of the Crown
was gained, the bargain was struck, the house at Whitehall became
Melbourne House, and the residence in Piccadilly, York House,
afterwards changed to the Albany, where, in the oldest portion and
principal apartments of that paradise of bachelors, the decorations
of Cipriani and his colleagues may still be admired.
All contemporary writers speak of Lady Melbourne as a leader of
fashion and an ornament of society; Horace Walpole, in particular,
alludes to her frequently, ‘in wonderful good looks,’ at the Prince of
Wales’s birthday ball at Carlton House, and again at the French
Ambassador’s, where it was so hot he was nearly stewed, but ‘the
quadrilles were surprisingly pretty, especially that one in which Lady
Melbourne, Lady Sefton, and Princess Czartorisky figured, in blue
satin and gold, with collars mounted à la reine Elizabeth.
In 1805 her eldest son died; but the mother seems to have been
consoled by the promise of future greatness shown by her second
son, William, who early evinced a taste for public life, which
harmonised with Lady Melbourne’s views. She took a great interest
in political affairs, was a staunch Whig, and at the time of Charles
Fox’s famous election, she displayed as much zeal and enthusiasm
as her rival beauty, the Duchess of Devonshire. William Lamb’s
marriage with the daughter of Lord Bessborough, which enlarged his
connection with all the principal Whig families, was a source of great
pleasure to Lady Melbourne. It was a pity, with her political
predilections, she did not survive to see her favourite son and her
daughter’s second husband each rise to the coveted position of
Prime Minister of England.
We have no authority for stating in what light Lady Melbourne
viewed her daughter-in-law’s infatuation for Lord Byron; but we
know, from his own letters, that he entertained a great admiration
for herself. He had never met with so charming a woman. ‘If she
had only been some years younger, what a fool she would have
made of me!’ With her he kept up unvarying friendly relations during
all the vicissitudes of his love and hate passages with Lady Caroline.
One day he called on Lady Melbourne, and asked her advice and
sympathy. She was a model confidante, and had once given it as her
opinion, that few men could be trusted with their neighbours’
secrets, and scarcely any woman with her own. Byron assured her
he was wearied with his way of life, that he wished to marry and
reform, and settle down at Newstead, and asked if she would assist
him in his choice of a wife. Lady Melbourne smiled, and said she
thought she knew of the very woman to suit him—her near
kinswoman, Miss Milbanke, daughter of Sir Noel Milbanke, heiress to
a large fortune, and a peerage in her own right, as Lady Wentworth,
—no great beauty, but not uncomely, well brought up, well
educated, and amiable. Byron was quite satisfied, but, as may be
expected, when Lady Caroline heard of it, she was furious. ‘The girl
has a bad figure, is given to statistics, and goes regularly to church,
—a pretty wife for a poet!’ The lady refused the man, of whose
moral character she had heard a sorry account; but he persisted,
and the marriage took place in 1816,—an ill-fated union, as might
have been expected, a fact but too well known. Lady Melbourne’s
health began to fail; she drooped gradually, till one day the sentence
was pronounced in her hearing—she had but a short time to live.
She heard the announcement with calmness, took an affectionate
leave of those she loved, and addressed some parting admonitions
to her beloved William, which he never forgot. Lady Melbourne died
on the 6th April 1818, at Whitehall, and was buried at Hatfield
Church. Her son Frederick was absent from England at the time.
This portrait was brought from Brocket, where it once hung at the
end of the ball-room. It was engraved by the title of ‘Maternal
Affection.’
No. 17.
LADY CAROLINE LAMB.

White gown. Blue bows. Crop of fair hair.

BORN 1788, DIED 1828.

By Hoppner.

HE was the only daughter of the first Earl of


Bessborough, by Lady Henrietta Spencer, daughter of
the first Earl Spencer. She was in Italy when a child,
with her mother, but, on their return to England, Lady
Bessborough being in very delicate health, Lady
Caroline was intrusted for a time to the care of her aunt, the beautiful
Duchess of Devonshire. Throughout her life she kept a diary, and she
gives a detailed record of her early days at Devonshire House. The
children saw very little of their elders, and were brought up with a
strange mixture of luxury and laxity. The nursery table was covered
with dainties, and served with goodly plate, but the young lords and
ladies were allowed to run wild backwards and forwards between the
servants’ apartments in search of sweetmeats and ‘goodies.’ Caroline’s
education was little cared for, her knowledge circumscribed, and she
only believed in two classes of society,—aristocrats and beggars. At
ten years old she could scarcely write, and could not spell at all; but
she composed verses, ‘which were pronounced splendid in the family,
and everybody petted me, especially my cousin Hartington (afterwards
Duke of Devonshire), who was my constant companion. My chief
delight consisted in polishing my specimens of Derbyshire spar,
washing my dog, and breaking in a pony.’ Caroline was transferred
from Devonshire to Spencer House, to live with her grandmother, and
the change did not suit her small ladyship. ‘How well I remember the
grand housekeeper, in a hoop and ruffles, who presided over seventy
servants.’ Under Lady Spencer’s roof, of whom the poet Cowper
speaks so highly, and to whom Horace Walpole, with his usual sneer,
alludes as ‘the goddess of wisdom,’ it may be imagined the girl was
subjected to a discipline which was so different from the liberty of
Devonshire House that she soon broke out into open rebellion. ‘I was
indeed very naughty, and used to give way to such paroxysms of rage
that a physician was called in. Dr. Warren forbade all study, and
desired that my brain should lie fallow. I believe he feared for my
reason. I was very fond of music, and cried when I had to give it up.
My governess was too severe, my relations too indulgent.’ It was not
until Lady Caroline was fifteen that she tried to make up for lost time.
As regarded her education, she showed great aptitude for languages,
—French, Italian, Latin, ‘and I had even mastered enough Greek to
enable me to enjoy a classical play, when taken to speech-day at
Harrow, where my brother was at school.’ She could recite an ode of
Sappho to admiring listeners at Devonshire or Spencer House, and
was much praised and petted. She piqued herself on her
unconventionality, and would plunge into intimacy, or manifest her
aversion in the most unequivocal manner. Among the frequent guests
at Spencer House was William Lamb, the second son of Lord
Melbourne. It would seem strange that the vigilance of the young
lady’s relations should not have been awakened by the growing
intimacy between her and the captivating younger son. Well bred, well
born, with a ringing laugh and an inexpressible charm, which never
forsook him in advanced life amid the turmoil of politics, William Lamb
had everything to recommend him but a birthright,—and had it not
been settled in the family that Caroline was to make a brilliant
marriage? Lady Caroline, who loved to record her own adventures,
writes to her friend and confidante, Lady Morgan, not very long before
her death, recalling her past life: ‘I fell in love, when only twelve years
old, with a friend of Charles Fox,—a friend of liberty, whose poems I
had read, whose self I had never seen, and, when I did see him, at
thirteen, could I change? I was more attached than ever. William Lamb
was beautiful, and far the cleverest person then about, the most
daring in his opinions, in his love of liberty and independence. He
thought of me but as a child; yet he liked me much. Afterwards he
wished to marry me, and I refused him because of my temper.’ In
another letter she says: ‘I was a fury. He asked me a second time, and
this time he was not refused, for I adored him.’ The lady’s relations
were reconciled to the match, possibly influenced in some slight
degree by the consideration that William Lamb had become heir to a
large fortune and a peerage, in consequence of the death of his elder
brother.
Marriages never come single in a family. Lamb’s sister Emily was
already engaged, and in the year 1805, within a month of each
other, the brother was united to Lady Caroline Ponsonby, and the
sister to Lord Cowper. Mr. Lamb and his wife passed the early days
of their married life between Brocket (Lord Melbourne’s) and
Panshanger (Lord Cowper’s) Houses in Hertfordshire; and when the
London season began, Lady Caroline contributed not a little to the
former attractions of Melbourne House, where she and her husband
took up their abode. Society was at variance as to the bride’s merits;
her eccentricities amused many of the guests, and affronted others,
—for some people are indignant when merely called upon to stare at
what is said to them. The Prince of Wales, an habitué of Melbourne
House, was one of those who encouraged Lady Caroline in her
wayward and wilful moods; her startling speeches, her flighty
coquetry, her sudden quarrels, and as sudden reconciliations,
whether with her husband or any other member of the community,
were a great source of amusement to his Royal Highness. Miss Berry
speaks of meeting the Prince at Lady Caroline Lamb’s in the year
1808. She says in her Diary: ‘It was an immense assembly. We came
away at half-past twelve, and had to walk beyond the Admiralty to
our carriage. Many of the company did not leave till past three; the
Prince of Wales had supped below, in Lady Melbourne’s apartments,
and remained till past six. Sheridan was there, and quite drunk.’ It
would appear by these remarks that Lady Melbourne had vacated a
suite of apartments in favour of her daughter-in-law, who received
on her own account, as in another passage in Miss Berry’s
correspondence there is mention, ‘I am going to Lady Caroline
Lamb’s to-night. She gives a party, to be convenient for hearing
what is going on, about this famous motion in the House of Peers.’
But Lady Caroline was of too romantic a turn of mind to be absorbed
by politics; she had always some small flirtation on hand, and her
admirers were frequently under age. We read in the Life of the late
Lord Lytton some very early passages between him and this mature
object of his adoration,—assignations entered into, notes passing
clandestinely, engagements to dance broken off and renewed with
playful inconstancy. Excitement, even on so small a scale, seemed
necessary to the lady’s existence; she would have been bored to
death without it. The novelist admired his goddess enough to put
her in print, and describes the compassion she displayed one day,
when, finding a beggar who had met with an accident, she insisted
on his being lifted, rags and all, into the carriage beside her, when
she drove the cripple to his destination.
But a luminary was about to appear on the horizon, which was
destined to eclipse all lesser lights. Here is her own account of her
first acquaintance with Lord Byron: ‘Rogers, who was one of my
adorers, and extolled me up to the skies, said to me one evening,
“You must know the new poet.” He offered to lend me the proofs of
Childe Harold to read. That was enough for me. Rogers said, “He
has a club foot, and bites his nails.” I said, “If he were as ugly as
Æsop I must know him.” Lady Westmoreland had met Byron in Italy;
she undertook to present him. I looked earnestly at him, and turned
on my heel,’—conduct which the poet afterwards reproached her
with. London had gone mad about him. All the ladies were pulling
caps for him. He said once ostentatiously: ‘The women positively
suffocate me.’ That night the entry in Lady Caroline’s Diary was
—‘Mad, bad, and dangerous to know.’ She declared at first she had
no intention of attracting him, but she confesses how she had come
in from riding one windy, rainy day, all muddy and dishevelled, and
had been conversing with Moore and Rogers in that plight, when
Byron was announced, and she flew out of the room to beautify
herself. ‘Lord Byron wished to come and see me at eight o’clock,
when I was alone. That was my dinner-hour. I said he might. From
that moment, for many months, he almost lived at Melbourne
House.’
Lord Hartington, Lady Caroline’s favourite cousin, expressed a
wish to have some dancing of an evening at Whitehall, as his
stepmother (Lady Elizabeth Foster) objected to anything of the kind
at Devonshire House, and accordingly for a time the drawing-room
at Melbourne House was turned into a ball-room. But as Lord
Byron’s lameness cut him off from the quadrilles and waltzes, this
arrangement did not suit him, and his word being law with Lady
Caroline, the dancing was soon discontinued. It was a strange
flirtation between the poet and the poetaster. The lady would lie
awake half the night composing verses, which she would repeat the
next day to the great man, in the fond hope of a few crumbs of
praise, a commodity of which Byron was very sparing, he being a
great deal more taken up with giving utterance to his own effusions.
Lady Caroline was often mortified, Lord Byron often wearied,—at
least so it would appear. Lord Holland came up to them one evening
as they were sitting side by side as usual, with a silver censer in his
hand. ‘I am come,’ he said, ‘Lady Caroline, to offer you your due.’ ‘By
no means,’ she returned in a tone of pique; ‘pray give it all to Lord
Byron. He is so accustomed to incense that he cannot exist without
it.’
A recent biography describes the situation well when it says: ‘He
grew moody, and she fretful, when their mutual egotisms jarred.’
William Lamb’s wife was certainly not formed to make home happy.
One day she extolled his generosity and lack of jealousy; another,
she accused him of apathy and indifference with regard to her
flirtations. Her conduct was marked by alternate tenderness and ill-
temper: there could be no doubt of her affection for her invalid boy,
yet her treatment of him was spasmodic and fitful,—now devoted,
now neglectful. More than once a separation had been agreed upon,
and Mr. Lamb had even gone so far as to forbid his wife the house,
and believed she was gone. He went to his own room, locked
himself in, and sat brooding over his troubles. It was growing late,
when he was attracted by the well-known sound of scratching at the
door, and he rose to let in his favourite dog. But lo! the intruder was
no other than his wife, who, crouching on the floor, had made use of
this stratagem to gain admittance. Half indignant, half amused, he
did not long resist the glamour which this eccentric woman knew
how to throw around him. Peace was restored for a short time, but
not for long; another explosion, a violent domestic quarrel, occurred
one night in London. Lady Caroline went out, called a hackney
coach, and in her evening dress—a white muslin frock, blue sash,
and diamond necklace—drove to the house of a physician, whom
she scarcely knew. She describes with great unction the surprise and
admiration of the assembled guests, ‘who took me for a child, and
were surprised at my fine jewels.’
It was her cherished vanity to be taken for a young unmarried girl.
Her relations were much alarmed at her disappearance. Lady
Spencer sent to Lord Byron’s house, who disclaimed all knowledge
of the truant. After creating a great excitement in the good doctor’s
drawing-room, the lady returned home, to enjoy another scene and
another reconciliation. Her mother, Lady Bessborough, who was in
very delicate health, was deeply concerned at her daughter’s
conduct, the conjugal quarrels, and the intimacy with Lord Byron,
which was so much talked of in the world. ‘Poor dear mamma was
miserable; she prevailed on me at length to go to Ireland with her
and papa.’ On their departure, Lord Byron wrote to his dearest
Caroline a most peculiar letter, abounding, indeed, in high-flown
protestations, assuring her he was hers only, hers entirely; that he
would with pleasure give up everything for her, both here and
beyond the grave; that he was ready to fly with her, when and
whenever she might appoint, etc.; at the same time reminding her
of her duty to her husband and her mother—a most wonderful
mixture of false sentiment and shallow feeling, which could only
have deceived one so blinded as the recipient. ‘Byron continued to
write to me while I was in Ireland. His letters were tender and
amusing. We had arrived at Dublin, on our way home, when my
mother brought me a letter from him,—such a letter!—I have
published it in Glenarvon. It was sealed with a coronet, but neither
the coronet nor the initials were his; they were Lady Oxford’s.’ Lady
Caroline was beside herself with rage and jealousy; she fell ill. They
were detained at ‘a horrid little inn’ at Rock. She arrived in England
in the most excited frame of mind. Byron complains of her
proceedings, which were of a most melodramatic nature; she went
to see him, dressed as a page; she vowed she would stab herself,
and wished some one would kill him;—‘in short,’ says the poet, ‘the
Agnus is furious; you can have no idea what things she says and
does, ever since the time that I (really from the best motives)
withdrew my homage. She actually writes me letters threatening my
life.’ We have no reference at hand to note when these lines were
written, but we believe after his marriage:—
‘They’ll tell thee, Clara, I have seemed
Of late another’s charms to woo,
Nor sighed nor frowned as if I deemed
That thou wert vanished from my view.
Clara, this struggle to undo
What thou hast done too well for me,
This mask before the babbling crowd,
This treachery, is truth to thee,’—

a peculiar and ambiguous form of reasoning, by which it appeared


Lady Caroline was not convinced.
Byron’s well-known stanzas, ‘Farewell! if ever fondest prayer,’ were
said to have been addressed to Lady Caroline when he left England
for ever, having quarrelled with his wife as well as with his friend.
The poem was not calculated to conciliate the lady, and it was not
long before she heard from a third person that Byron had spoken
slightingly of her to Madame de Staël and others. She accordingly
sat down, and wrote him a long account of the childish revenge she
had taken, by burning his effigy in a bonfire, with her own hands.
In her Diary she gives a touching account of her useless
endeavours to pique or persuade her poor boy into cheerfulness,
and how, when he saw her look of disappointment, he would come
and sit beside her, take her hand, and look wistfully into her face.
She had consulted many physicians, she said, and now she would
consult a metaphysician. Some time ago she had met Godwin, the
author, and taken one of her sudden fancies for him. She now sat
down and asked him to come and pay her a visit at Brocket; she
wished to have some conversation with him about her son, and
indeed about her own unsettled and discontented state of mind.
‘When I saw you last under painful circumstances, you said it rested
with myself to be happy. I fear you can only think of me with
contempt. My mind is overpowered with trifles. Would you dislike
paying me a little visit? I hold out no allurements; if you come, it can
only be from friendship. I have no longer the excuse of youth and
inexperience for being foolish, yet I remain so. I want a few wise
words of advice. No one is more sensible of kindness from a person
of high intellect. I have such an over-abundance of activity, and
nothing to do. I feel as if I had lived five hundred years, and am
neither better nor worse than when I began. I conduce to no one’s
happiness; on the contrary, I am in the way of many. All my beliefs
and opinions are shaken as with small shocks of moral earthquake;
it is as if I were in a boat without chart or compass.’ Surely she was
not wise in her selection of a navigator.
Godwin obeyed the summons, but, as might have been expected,
brought no consolation in his train. Lady Caroline would often in her
correspondence eulogise her husband in very high terms, and call
him her guardian angel, and there is no doubt she was proud of
him; but his very forbearance and good-humour were often a source
of irritation, and she would upbraid him with treating her as a child,
though, in reality, nothing flattered her more than to be so
considered, and in some of her early caricatures (for she often
amused herself in that way) she represents herself carried about in
Mr. Lamb’s arms as a little girl. Her father-in-law, easy-going as he
was, blamed her for her extravagance, and called her ‘her laviship.’
‘Indeed I think I am a good housewife,’ she writes to Lady Morgan,
‘and have saved William money; but he says, “What is the use of
saving with one hand if you scatter with the other?” What is the use
—that is what I am always saying—what is the use of existing at
all?’
This unwholesome excitement tended to increase the natural
irascibility of her character. In her Diary she records petty quarrels
with her servants and other inmates of the house. She at length
took to authorship as a consolation, and gives an odd account of the
manner in which her literary labours were carried on. She had a
companion, who began by acting as her amanuensis, but after a
time she decided on having an expert copyist. Even so commonplace
an arrangement must be carried out in a melodramatic manner. She
wrote the book, unknown to all, except to Miss Welsh, in the middle
of the night. ‘I sent for old Woodhead to Melbourne House. I
dressed Miss Welsh elegantly, and placed her at my harp, while I sat
at the writing-table, disguised in the page’s clothes. The copyist
naturally took Miss Welsh for Lady Caroline, and expressed his
astonishment that a schoolboy of that age (I looked about fourteen)
could be the author of Glenarvon. Next time he came I received him
in my own clothes, and told him William Ormond, the young author,
was dead. When the book was finished, I sent it to ‘William, who
was delighted.’ (Query.) Glenarvon disappointed the public, not so
much on account of its literary shortcomings, which might have
been anticipated, but from its lack of sufficient allusions to the
separation of Lord and Lady Byron, though there was no scarcity of
abuse of the hero. The story was too feeble and vapid to cause
much sensation, yet the authoress found publishers willing to accept
further works from the same pen, and Graham Hamilton and Ada
Reis followed.
Lord Byron, writing from Venice, speaking of Glenarvon, says: ‘I
have seen nothing of the book but the motto from my “Corsair”:—
“He left a name to all succeeding times
Linked with one virtue and a thousand crimes.”

If such be the posy, what must the ring be?—the generous moment
selected for the publication! I have not a guess at the contents.’ A
little while after, Madame de Staël lent him the book, when he went
to see her at Coppet. ‘It seems to me that if the author had told the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the romance
would not only have been more romantic, but more interesting. The
likeness is not good; I did not sit long enough.’
Besides her novels, Lady Caroline sent contributions to Annuals
and Magazines, breathing eternal love and dire remorse:—
“Weep for what thou’st lost, love,
Weep for what thou’st won,
Weep for what thou didst not do,
And more for what thou’st done.”
She often amused herself by setting her own compositions to
music very prettily.
We are not told in what manner Lady Caroline received the tidings
of Byron’s death, but we have a detailed account of her driving one
summer’s day on the Great North Road, not far from Brocket, in an
open carriage, accompanied by her husband, when, at a turn in the
road, they came upon a long and melancholy procession. It proved
to be the funeral of a peer, from the fact that the hearse was
preceded by a horseman bearing a coronet on a cushion. The lady
stopped her carriage and asked the question whose funeral it was.
‘We are taking Lord Byron to Newstead to be buried,’ was the reply.
The shock was terrible. Lady Caroline reached home, more dead
than alive, and fell into a species of trance, from which the waking
was slow and tedious. She would sit for hours with her hands
clasped on her lap, silent and listless; and it was long before she
could be prevailed on to resume her usual occupations, or busy
herself with her books, music, or drawing. When the invalid was a
little better, change of air and scene was prescribed, and she was
sent abroad. She wrote from Paris to Lady Morgan, asking her to
look in a cabinet, in a certain room at Melbourne House, where she
would find a miniature[5] of Lord Byron: ‘Pray send it me without
delay.’ Coming back to England, she again took up her abode at
Brocket, where her husband often visited her, although his official
and Parliamentary duties were a sufficient reason for his residing
mostly in London. When he went over to Ireland as Chief Secretary,
he kept up a regular correspondence with his wife (now a confirmed
invalid), and with those to whose care she was consigned. In Dublin
he was a frequent visitor at the house of Lady Morgan, who was
much attached to Lady Caroline, to give her news of his wife’s
health, or show her some of the letters he received from Brocket,—
such, for instance, as, ‘My dearest William,—Since I wrote last I
have been a great sufferer. Tapping is a dreadful sensation, it turns
me so deadly cold and sick.... But everybody is so good to me. All
the members of both our families, Emily, and Caroline have been to
see me, and the whole county has called to inquire. My dear brother,
too, has been with me, and is coming again. He reads to me, which

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