A. FONBLANQUE, ESQ.

John de Grenier Fonblanque, Esq., an eminent equity lawyer, senior King's Counsel, and senior Bencher of the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple, died in January, 1837, in his seventy-seventh year. He was descended from an ancient noble French family of Languedoc, and inherited the title of Marquis, though he never assumed it in England.

He was called to the English bar in 1783.

He published several works on professional subjects, and entered Parliament in 1802, and represented the borough of Camelford, until the year 1806. His eldest son, John Samuel Martin Fonblanque, who was called to the bar in 1816, is a Commissioner of Bankrupts. A younger son, Albany Fonblanque, studied for the bar, but relinquished his profession for that of a public journalist, and in the conduct and management of" The Examiner," made a character, than which no higher was ever gained by the effective discharge of editorial duties, and the devotion to them of brilliant talents and sound judgment.

In 1837 he published a remarkable work, " England under Seven Administrations."

Mr. Fonblanque was one of the most highly-esteemed friends of Lady Blessington; of his intellectual powers there are ample evidences in her papers, that she entertained a very high opinion.

Her knowledge of eminent or prominent persons figuring in literary, political, and artistic life was not more extensive than her power of appreciating worth and talent, and of estimating most things at their proper value.

She certainly possessed great power of discrimination and observation, singular tact in discovering remarkable mental qualities, and excellent judgment in forming opinions of the merits of those who presented themselves to her notice.

FROM A. FONBLANQUE, ESQ., TO LADY BLESSINGTON. 107

Her estimate of the intellectual powers of Fonblanque was perhaps higher than that of most of the celebrities with whom she came in contact. His profound penetration, sound judgment, sobriety of mind, his power in composition as a public journalist, his ability in influencing public opinion, his caustic style, perspicacity, and force of expression, his effective sarcasm, and withal apparent simplicity of character, were well calculated to be appreciated by her. An American writer very ill-advisedly thought fit to lower the estimate of the former editor of " The Examiner," in his own land. The attempt was rebuked by some friend of Fonblanque in a way not likely to be forgotten by the writer of the obnoxious strictures.

FROM A. FONBLANQUE TO LADY BLESSINGTON.

"Rued'Algra, Oct. 81, 1831.

"My Dear Lady Blessington,

"Though I am almost blind, I must write to say how much I admire Count D'Orsay's letter on the Brougham affair. It seems to me that nothing could be happier in tone and modest dignity. Here it was the subject of universal praise.

"The falsehood that Count D'Orsay had anything to do with the hoax was sufficiently refuted by all who knew him, by the two circumstances that it was stupid and cruel; and the unique characteristic of D'Orsay is, that the most brilliant wit is uniformly exercised in the most good-natured way. He can be wittier with kindness than the rest of the world with malice.

"Lady Canterbury gave me a most friendly recognition, and we dined with them, and found the family very agreeable. If I had been a Tory, Lord Canterbury could not have been more attentive; my recommendation being the stronger one, of which I am not a little proud, of being numbered among your friends. You will be glad to hear that Bulwer is doing extremely well here, and making himself, as he must be every where by his amiable qualities, very popular. My dear Lady Blessington,

"Ever faithfully yours,

"A. Fonblanque."

108

CHAPTER V.

JOSEPH JEKYLL, ESQ., F.R.S., L.P.S.A.

It is passing strange, how little is to be known, a few years after their decease, of persons greatly celebrated for their wit and humour, while flourishing in society, and courted and petted by the literary circles and coteries of their time. The reputation of a mere man of wit, without any concomitant claims to distinction, whether as an author, an artist, an orator in the senate, or an advocate at the bar, is of small value. There is no element of immortality in it. It is more than strange, it is truly surprising, how men of wit, genuine, exuberant, and irrepressible, spirituelle men, who in society eclipse all other men of letters and remarkable intelligence, by the brilliancy of their conversation, the smartness of their repartees, and the extraordinary quickness of their apprehension; once they cease to throw intellectual somersaults for society to divert it, and make fun for its lords and ladies, and other celebrities, their services are forgotten, all interest in their personal concerns is lost; there is no obligation to their memories, the privileged people of fashion and literature a-lamode, who thronged round them with admiration in their days of triumph, are missing, when they are borne to the tomb, or cease to be funny or prosperous, or in vogue. No man of wit of his time was more talked of and admired than Jekyll. The court that was paid to him, the homage that was yielded to him, were sufficient to lead one to believe that his memory would live long after him; yet a few years had not elapsed after his decease, before he was forgotten. It would seem to be the same with great wits, as with eminent vocalists and musicians: while their peculiar talent is being displayed, while the performance in which they play may last, their talent is fully appreciated; but no sooner is the exhibition over, and the performance at an end, than it becomes a matter of the utmost indifference to the public, whether the person to whom they owe so much enjoyment has fallen into sickness and infirmity, or is of the living or the dead. No work of Jekyll's of any importance has found its way into publicity; no writings of any value have turned up among his papers.

During the latter years of his life, he was confined to his house by gout; and during that period Lady Blessington was in the habit of visiting him regularly. She enjoyed exceedingly his society and conversation, the brilliancy of which remained unimpaired by his great age and grievous bodily infirmities.

"Mr. Jekyll was the son of a Captain in the Navy, and was descended from Sir Joseph Jekyll, Master of the Rolls in the reign of George the First. He was educated in Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took the degree of MA., in 1777- He was called to the bar in 17 78. He practised in the Western Circuit, and in the Court of King's Bench."*

He entered parliament in 1787, on the popular interest, in opposition to the Lansdown family. He attached himself to the Whig party, and voted with Mr. Grey, in favour of Reform. So early as 1782, he made himself known to the reading public, as the author of a Memoir, and the editor of the letters of " Ignatius Sancho," (in 2 vols. 8vo.), the African of intellectual celebrity, who corresponded with Johnson,

* Gentleman's Magazine, August, 1837, p. 208.

Sterne, and Garrick. Mr. Jekyll became a fellow of the Royal Society, and of the Society of Antiquaries, in 1790. But it was not his legal, literary, scientific, or antiquarian attainments which gained a reputation for Mr. Jekyll. His ready wit and talent for repartee, his cleverness for hitting off grotesque resemblances of things naturally dissimilar, of seizing on droll peculiarities, salient outlines, and odd circumstances, and making them the subject of sparkling bon-mots and sprightly epigrams, gained him, not only in society, but at the bar, the character of a man of brilliant wit. He was not only witty himself, and the legitimate parent of an innumerable offspring of witticisms—but the putative father of everything really funny and spirituelle, which could not be traced to its true origin.

In 1805, Mr. Jekyll's merits as a humourist became known to the Prince of Wales. He was appointed Attorney-General to the Prince, was made King's Counsel, and also a Commissioner of Lunatics.

Mr. Jekyll held the office for many years of Treasurer of the Society of the Temple, and it was under his directions the venerable hall and celebrated church underwent very important and extensive repairs. In 1811, he published a work in 4to., entitled, "Facts and Observations relating to the Temple Church, and the Monuments contained in it."

Jekyll, like Dr. Johnson, gloried in London life. He said, "If he were compelled to live in the country, he would have the approach to his house paved like the streets of London, and would have a hackney-coach to drive up and down all day long." Doctor Johnson's great dogma, " Sir, the man who is tired of London, is tired of his existence," was ever held by him; and in the exuberance of his metropolitanism, he had a sort of reverential feeling even for the stones of London, which would have made the name of M'Adam odious to him, had he lived a few years later. He agreed with his friend,