52 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 



Hugh had been unsuccessful in a first courtship, and the story of hi» 

 disappointment reached the ears of Lady Elizabeth Seymour, only 

 daughter of Algernon Seymour, Baron Percy, who was at that time con- 

 sidered, on account of her birth, wealth, and beauty, the greatest prize 

 in the kingdom. Lady Percy expressed to some of her friends 'surprise 

 that any woman should have refused the hand of such a man as Hugh 

 Smithson.' These words soon became known to the rejected baronet, 

 and wrought a change in his feelings and aspirations. He became the 

 suitor of the fair and noble heiress, and married her on the 16th of July^ 

 1740.] 



" By his wise economy he improved the immense estates of this family^ 

 and increased their value to such an extent that the revenues from them 

 amounted to over fortj; thousand pounds. He re-established the old 

 grandeur of the Percys by his t^,ste and splendor. The castle of 

 Alnwick, the former residence of the Earls of Northumberland, was en- 

 tirely ruined. He rebuilt it, and to please the duchess, his wife, he orna- 

 mented it in the Gothic style, which he himself did not admire j but he 

 exercised so much taste that he made the castle one of the most mag- 

 nificent buildings of this kind to be found anywhere in Europe. He 

 improved Sion, a country-house in the environs of London ; and he ex- 

 hausted the resources of all the arts, and of unusual wealth, to fill these 

 two mansions with master-pieces of good taste, and to render them 

 worthy of their possessors. He was created an earl, had the order of the 

 Garter conferred on him, and was afterwards appointed viceroy of Ire- 

 land; finally, he was raised to the rank of a duke, and upheld these high 

 positions by an expenditure unequaled at that time. 



"The Duchess of Northumberland was of the very highest birth, de- 

 scending from Charlemagne through Joscelin de Louvaiu, who had mar- 

 ried Agn^s de Percy in the year 1168. She brought to her husband, as 

 her marriage portion, several peerages, the name and coat-of-arms of the 

 Percys, and an immense income. She was very high-minded, and of a 

 natural and easy disposition ; she was very good-hearted and charitable : 

 above all, she was truly attached to her friends, whom she distinguis^ied 

 and served whenever an opportunity offered. 



"The duke was fond of arts and sciences, so I entered into his tfistes^ 

 discussing aU these subjects with him, in which he found that I was 

 well versed, and that he could converse with me on more topics than 

 with any one else. The duchess, on the contrary, had a predilection for 

 little 'jeux d'esprit' in the company of friends, and she found amusement 

 in gathering together engravings, medals, and in collecting a variety of 

 other things. I joined in these pursuits as if I had made them the busi- 

 ness of my previous life. In the evening I took part in her social games, 

 and made myself useful to her in her amusements, the only interruption 

 to my attentions being a short trip to Paris." * 



From the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1786, we also learn that' 

 " The establishment of his Grace was as magnificent as it was possible 

 for any English nobleman's to be. He had at all times three mansion- 

 houses — and of late four — in occasional use. He spent immense sums 

 in diiferent sorts of very costly decorations ; pictures by every master ; 

 gardening by Browne; buildings by Adams. . . . More than fifteen 



*[L. Dutens.] ^' MSmoires d'un voyageur qui ae repose; contenant des anecdotes his- 

 toriques, politiquea et Iitt6raire8 relatives h plusieurs des principaux personnages du 

 sifecle. ParM. L. D. Troisifeme Edition. 3 vols. 8°. Londres, 1807." Vol. i, pp. 

 226-228. (This book is in Smithson's library. ) 



