CHISWICK HOUSE 



is some affectation in the picture, but in the ensemble the original 

 looked very well. The Duke of Devonshire received me with the 

 best possible manners. The scene was dignified by the presence 

 of an immense elephant, who, under the charge of a groom, 

 wandered up and down, giving an air of Asiatic pageantry to the 

 entertainment. I was never more sensible," continues the author 

 of " Waverley," " of the dignity which largeness of size, and 

 freedom of movement give to this otherwise very ugly animal." 

 This elephant occupied a paddock near the house, and his in- 

 telligence, docility and affection were remarkable. 



Chiswick House, where in health Charles James Fox was a 

 frequent visitor, was the scene of his end. In August, 1806, not six 

 months after the death of his friend Georgiana, the great Whig 

 statesman and orator, came there to die. He was unable to stand 

 the fatigue of the journey to his own home of St. Anne's Hill, 

 and it was hoped that the change to the country for Chiswick 

 was in the country a hundred and twelve years ago would do some- 

 thing towards restoring him to health, and his nephew, Lord 

 Holland, tells us that for a while the beauty of the gardens outside, 

 and of the works of art within, did indeed revive and benefit him ; 

 but only for a time ; and a fortnight later, in September, 1806, 

 he passed away, with the words : ' I die happy," on his lips. 



Twenty-one years after the death of Fox, George Canning came 

 to Chiswick, also to die. He had caught cold at the Duke of York's 

 funeral, and his health had already begun to give way, when, on 

 the death of Lord Liverpool, he was called upon to form a ministry. 

 The difficulty he found in doing so, the anxiety and strain he 

 had undergone, proved too much for him. He came to Chiswick 

 House to recuperate, but three weeks later, on the 8th of August, 

 1827, he died. It is said, but of the truth of the statement I 

 am doubtful, that he passed away in the same room in which 

 Fox had breathed his last. 



With regard to Fox and the affection with which he was regarded 

 by his associates, Sir George Trevelyan tells us that it was said 

 in 1794 : " There are only forty of them, and any of them would 

 be hanged for Fox." 



Sir Robert Adair, British Minister at Vienna and Constantinople, 

 who died in 1825, at the age of ninety-two, was actually the last 

 survivor of Fox's friends. Many years after the death of Fox, 



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