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It is not given to every man to be so
versatile or so enterprising as was the Rev. Sir Henry Bate Dudley, who,
having distinguished himself for more than half-a-century in the literary,
the dramatic, the musical, and the political world, and having been in
turn editor, clergyman, duelist, volunteer officer, county magistrate,
courtier, and baronet, closed his eyes in death at Cheltenham in the year
1824, in the ninety-ninth year of his age. Yet
so it was with the somewhat eccentric character whose career I propose to
set before readers in this chapter.
Henry Bate-for that was
his original name -was born in 1726, at Chelmsford, in Essex, in the
vicinity of which place his father was a clergyman. He was educated
probably at the local grammar-school, and sent in due course to Oxford,
where I find that he took his Bachelor's degree from Magdalen Hall in
1746. On leaving college, he appears to have lived for a time in the
fashionable world, his chief characteristics being a love of enterprise,
which was the mainspring of his actions through life.
His father, for some
few years previous to his death, had held the rectory of North Fambridge,
near Chelmsford; and on his decease young Mr. Bate was nominated to the
vacant living. The revenues of this small rectory, however, appear to have
been too small to meet the requirements of the reverend gentleman and his
family, and he accordingly decided upon directing his attention to such
literary undertakings as might be productive of speedy profit; so, coming
to London, and falling in with other men who shared in his Bohemian tastes
and ways of life, he earned the first few guineas which he made by
contributions to the then existing newspapers. In 1773 he helped in
founding the Morning Post. The first number of that journal appeared on
the 2nd of November of the above year, thirteen years before the
establishment of the Times. Mr. Bate became one of the earliest editors of
the Post, and, from the lively writing which it exhibited, it very soon
obtained a circulation quite unprecedented. Troubles, however, arose; for
he one day inserted an article which happened to give offence to a certain
Captain Stoney, and, on his refusing to give up the writer's name, the
aggrieved captain sent him a challenge, which he did not hesitate to
accept. The parties adjoined to the Adelphi Tavern in the Strand, close
by, and, having retired to a private room and ordered 'pistols
for two, 'proceeded to fight it out'; the firearms, however, proved a
failure, and the combatants had recourse to swords, and, both being
wounded, they were with difficulty separated. Shortly after this little
episode, Mr. Bate quarreled with the proprietors of the Morning Post; but
he solved the Gordian knot by resigning his editorial seat, and, having
withdrawn from all his other engagements in connection with the press,
started the Morning Herald. This was in the year 1 780. Of this paper he
was for some years sole proprietor, and he supported
his venture with extraordinary success, through his wit and
versatility of talents, and partly through the fact that he had gained
access to the best circles of the literary and political world. So
successful was this undertaking, that in a short space of time the
circulation reached the then extraordinary number of four thousand copies
daily.
Mr. Bate had already
made the acquaintance of the Prince Regent, and was also on terms of of
the greatest intimacy with Garrick. One day dining with that celebrated
actor at his lodgings in the Adelphi, he chanced to meet with the Rev.
Mr. Townley, author of the farce of
'High Life below Stairs.' He soon after became
Mr. Townley's curate at Hendon, and devoted the greater part of his
leisure time to literature and authorship. To the 'Probationary Odes' and
the 'Rolliad,' which at that time drew universal
attention, he contributed largely; and lie wrote entirely
'Vortigern and Rowena,' a satirical work,
portraying, with admirable spirit and in the diction of Shakespeare, the
characters of all the eminent personages of that day. This appeared at the
time of Ireland's as for some years sole proprietor, and he supported his
forgeries. In the time of Garrick be produced the opera of
'The Rival Candidates' at Drury Lane Theatre,
and afterwards 'The Blackamoor washed White,' which, in consequence of
party spirit running so high at that period, caused a contest among the
audience, with drawn swords, on the stage itself. He was also the author
of the operas of 'The Flitch of Bacon' and 'The
Woodman'; the former was written for the Haymarket Theatre for the purpose
of introducing his friend Shield, as a composer, to the public. The rest
of his dramatic works are 'The Travelers in
Switzerland' and 'At Home,' a bagatelle produced
about ten years before his death.
As a magistrate he was most
active and vigilant. By his promptitude and personal courage he suppressed
the riots at Ely at the time of the Corn Bill agitation, rushing into the
room where the conspirators were in deliberation, and with the help of a
few followers secured the ringleaders, notwithstanding the rioters were
armed and fired at him. lie received in consequence a handsome piece of
plate, presented by the leading gentry of the county. He performed a
variety of other acts as a magistrate equally laudable, and was no less
strict in the observance of his clerical duties.
Settling down in middle
life as a country gentleman in a remote village at the eastern end of
Essex, in the marshes between the Blackwater and the Crouch, he resolved
at least not to drone away his time, or to leave no memory of his name
behind him. He had become-not without very strong opposition on the part
of the Bishop of London-the proprietor of the perpetual advowson of
Bradwell-near-the-Sea, which he had himself
created from a deserted marsh, taking large portions of the land from the
sea, and expending an ample fortune in general improvements, such as
forming sea-walls and erecting an observatory. He was at one period Rector
of Kilcornan and Chancellor of the Diocese of Ferns, in Ireland; but,
tired of the loneliness of the sister isle, and worn out by the want of
society, he resigned his Irish preferment's, and, returning to England,
obtained the Rectory of Willingham, in Cambridgeshire, and eventually was
made, by the influence of the Regent, one of the Prebendaries of Ely.
It was in the year 1784 that
Mr. Bate, under the usual royal authority, took the name of Dudley,
in addition to his former name, at the instance of a descendant of that
family, to whom be was related. In a 'case'
prepared by Air. Dudley in 1802, relating to the purchase of the adowson
of Bradwell, he states that upon his first visit to the spot, after the
purchase had been completed, he found the church, parsonage, and premises
gone to general decay, the churchyard fenceless, the glebe land,
consisting of nearly three hundred acres, inundated, the tenant thereof
broken, and, from the unhealthiness of the climate, no rector nor vicar
residing within many miles of that peninsula, and no decent assistant to
be procured for the discharge of the parish duties. Regardless of these
appearances, lie states that he immediately became resident curate; caused
the church, with all its appendages, to be effectively repaired; and, by
establishing, a regular church service, increased, progressively, a
long-neglected congregation.
He also not only built
a new dwelling-house and outbuildings necessary
for the rectory, but drained the land, and embanked a large addition from
the sea (for which he received, at different. times, from the Society of
Arts two gold medals), thereby rescuing the place from a putrid swamp. He
likewise most effectually suppressed, by his unwearied activity, an
extensive system of smuggling, alike dangerous to the health and morals of
the people, and injurious to the revenue. Upon these important works it is
asserted that he made an expenditure of more than £28,000. The baronetcy
was conferred upon him in 1812.
To Sir Henry Dudley the
country is in a great measure indebted for one of its
ornaments-Gainsborough. His patronage of this excellent painter in early
life principally contributed to his subsequent success. His portrait,
painted by Gainsborough, doubtless as a mark of gratitude, long hung in
the parlor of his parsonage at Bradwell, and now is in the possession of
Mr. John Oxley Parker, of Woodham Mortimer, Essex, whose father bought it
at the sale of Sir Henry's effects. It was exhibited by
Mr. Parker at South Kensington a few years ago, and again at the
Grosvenor Gallery in 1885. Sir Henry was also the patron of De Lolme, who
wrote the work upon the Constitution; of Lavoisier, who established the
present beautiful system of chemistry; and indeed of almost every man of
merit who needed and solicited his assistance. Mr. John Wilson Croker (so
long secretary to the admiralty, and M.P.), on his outset in life, was
perhaps under no small obligations to him. Besides being the intimate
friend of Garrick, as mentioned above, Sir Henry was also on terms of
intimacy with the Earl of Sandwich (who patronized Captain Cook) with the
elder Colman, with Cumberland and Bonnel Thornton, and Mrs. Cowley, and
was the associate of all the wits of his day. He first discovered the
merits of Mrs. Siddons, who was then performing in a barn at Cheltenham,
and mentioned her to Garrick, who commissioned him to engage her, leaving
the question of salary to his discretion.
Sir Henry was, in fact,
well acquainted with the private histories of most of the titled families
in the three kingdoms; and, indeed, his memory was known to be so richly
stored with authentic scandals, that he was more feared than loved among
the upper ten thousand, who regarded him as somewhat of an interloper in
their ranks. He was also, as a constant visitor at Carlton House on other
than days of state, acquainted with most of the personnel of the Court of
George III and of the Prince Regent, with respect to whom he could unfold
many a tale which would throw no scanty light on the by-ways of history.
It is stated by the writer of an obituary notice of him, which appeared
soon after his decease, that, 'Having been formerly honored by the
society and the confidence of his present Majesty, even in matters of
extreme delicacy, he had so full an opportunity of observing the most
amiable private qualityies of His Majesty, that
he was ever through life most ardently attached to his person. He was
equally devoted to him whether Whig or Tory were in power. This gave his
politics an appearance of want of principle, when the vacillation to
opposite parties was itself produced by principles more amiable than those
which influence politicians generally.' Sir Henry left no heir to inherit
his baronetcy, which therefore became extinct only twelve short years
after he received the patent of its creation.
Chapters From the Family Chests, 1887
Chapters From the Family Chest |
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