The Adventure of Living : a Subjective Autobiography

y father, though without a trace of anything approaching pride of birth, knew his own family history well, and was never tired of relating stories of "famous men and our fathe

mitted that the storm in The Tempest was based upon Strachey's account of the shipwreck of Sir George Somers's fleet on the Bermudas-the Isle of Devils so greatly dreaded by seamen. They provided in this case, however, a haven of refuge. Strachey was first Secr

age, including Elizabeth herself. This letter was handed about in manuscript, as was so often the case in those times, and Shakespeare, in all human probability, must have seen it, detected good copy for the theatre-he had a never-failing instinct in that direction-a

served in the war. He tells us that the young gallants, when every hand was required to work at the pumps, had to exert themselves to the very utmost, and to work as long an

iend of Ben Jonson and wrote a set of commendatory verses for the Laureate's "Sejanus." These appear in the folio edition of Jonson's works. Probably this sonnet-it has fourteen lines-is one of the most cryptic things in

n swol'n Fortune

mperance; nothi

hn Strachey, the

ne, to the then Ambassador with the Republic, Sir Henry Wotton, also a poet. The letter is witty and trenchant. After noting that Strachey was "sometime secretary to Sir Thomas Gates," he adds, "I do bold

call Virginia Company propaganda. One of these gives a very delightful example of the English and American habit of applying a "get- civilisation-quick" system for the native inhabitants of any country into w

al poems by William Strachey and an autograph inscription written in the most wonderfully neat and clear handwriting-a standard in handwriting to which no member of the family before or since has ever attained. But b

ow a sincere and holy Beadsman for this Christian prose- cuti? Thomas Lawson, Esq. William Strachey wisheth

s in the Bodleian an interesting short dictionary of the language of the Chesapeake Indians compiled by Strachey. In a not

wrote a short Latin poem to Strachey. It is addressed "Ad Guillielmus Strach?um." In it Campion tells Strachey that although he has very few verses to give to his "old comrade," the man "who rejoiced in and made

s far as I know, the best of his verses dedicatory are those addresse

re, accept the

civill will o

rcks be the ef

angells be, le

gli, make us

k can state-or

trachey may have supported Campion in his controversy with Gabriel Harvey, who, by the way, lived at Saffron Walden, from which town came also William Strachey. There

re, an heiress in the heraldic sense, through whom we can proudly claim to represent the Somersetshire family of Hodges, whose arms we have always quartered. This lad

his age. On the wall of Wedmore Church in Somersetshire is a brass tablet bearing

*

83, with unconquered courage won two ensigns from the enemy; where, receiving his last wound, he gave three legacies:

s wounded he

was too sm

refore have thou

ody and so b

*

to produce such spirited verse. The Elizabethan age, so splendid in great poetry, wa

with the soil where Thomas Hodges fell, how many thousand stout bodies and brave hearts would again b

Gallery in the Hall at Sutton. My father's uncle, alas, was born in the eighteenth century and bred in India till about 1820. He was therefore little affected by Scott and the Gothic revival. When he came back to England, though full of interest in his house and family, he not only removed the Minstrels' Gallery from the Hall, but allowed the armour tha

Sutton, and are there to this day. They are, ho

undheads, however, cannot be doubted, for John Strachey when he grew up became a close friend of John Locke. Further, Captain Thomas Hodges, whose daughter was later married to John Strachey, raised a troop of horse to fight on the side of the Commonwealth. My father was always very proud of the fact that the intellectual father of

, one might almost say, was the patron saint of the family, and some day I hope to make a further and be

otten boroughs. He did not, however, remain long at home. He was soon sent out to India again to reform the Civil Service and to place the affairs alike of the Company and of the King, i.e. the British Government and Parliament, on

inging words in regard to his selection. They will serve to show, among other things, that Clive was not the kind of inspired savage that he is sometimes portrayed, but a man with an extraordinary command of the English language. In the speech in the House of Commons in which Clive flung back the accusations made against him in regard to the grants and presents w

he Close, Sutton

*

e. Many and great are the obligations I have been under to him (Grenville), but the greatest of all the obligations was his having recommended to me this gent

*

renville was able to give him so high a character. In any case, Clive was a shrewd judge of men, a

and Buckland, near Frome, he owned a considerable amount of property in Westminster. There are many interesting and amusing things to tell of him, but here I will only say that the said John Strachey the second had two wives and nineteen children, consequently at his death the family estates were heavily "dipped." His son, Hodges Strachey, who succeeded him, added to these pecuniary troubles, and then died; the property descended to a younger brother, Henry Strachey. Though he married into a

l Stracheys at Sutton and I am here to tell the tale. In those days twelve thousand pounds was a very big sum of money indeed to an impecunious country gentleman, and a considerable sum even to a man as rich as Clive. The modern equivalent woul

boy, because of the background, where, surrounded by the smoke of battle, a company of horsemen with drawn swords charge an invisible Oriental foe. If I remember rightly, the Br

ustrates the wonderful power of Clive's prose style, a power which always impressed me, even as a boy. Just before Clive died by his own hand, he addressed a letter to Henry Strachey, who had now become a close fri

se which makes life insupportable, but which

written word, it was Clive in this passage. He had, it will be remembered, attempted suicide before, as a yo

ia accompanied by vertigo, and that when these attacks came on they depressed him beyond measure. He lived in constant dread of their recurrence, and it was u

o hear the story of the suicide in Berkeley Square.

o put down, partly from family papers and partly from memory, as exact an account as he could

rtant offices, for he was a much-trusted man. He played, indeed, a part more like that of one of the great permanent officials of the present day than that of a politician. I take it that he had not a powerful gift of speech and that he was not a pushing man, otherwise, considering his brains and the way in which he was trusted, he would have gone a good deal higher than he did. A story which testifies to his influence is curious. When Burke began his attacks in the Commons upon Warren Hastings, he tried to enl

ne, a member of the Coalition, who, it will be remembered, at once formed a Government of his own. While the Ministry was in the making, Henry Strachey met Fox on Hay Hill, that minute yet "

, what's going t

e says he wants me

by both sides to be a man on whose word no dependence could ever be placed-a man who would tell you t

s case, and Shelburne kept his word. In all probabil

ber of Parliament named Oswald had been employed at Paris, but he had not proved to be a match for the able American delegates, Franklin, Jay, and Adams. Accordingly Strachey was sent over to give tone and vigour to the Bri

send; he pushes and presses every point as far as it can

racter of which any statesma

the one man at Paris who stood up for the United Empire Loyalists and did his very best to get for them proper recognition and proper compensation. Unfortunately the British Ministry

e he had gone to America as Secretary to Lord Howe and Admiral Howe when they were sent out e

n as they were done with. The story of these American papers is, again, one which must be reserved for another occasion. But, though the time has come to cut Henry Strachey off at the main, and though I must reluctantly forego the account of his dealings with George III, when he, Strachey, was Ma

arried, she had at the end of her life a large number of grandchildren. Anyway, she was evidently a lady who thoroughly understood what children want at a chi

MARK

dy St

ll s

ley s

L

ut begs to inform That the Bear being Laim am afeard cant perform But the dogg

s as toile

… … … …

ogg 2 } musick 5 Drum and orms 7 h

him at sam time though not in that line since mickle

inces

lb

L

most

el s

JAMES

icca

acko Cum down The airy on accoun

codile but I never Lets her out nor the ostrig

evidently been sent to "The Mermaid" or some other hostelry to negotiate for the appearance of "Jacko." When I read the letter I

te? Why children so delight in bears and have such a firm belief that they are kind, gentle, and grandfatherly animals is a piece of psychology which I have never been able to fathom. As to the exis

t by his family to find something for the young man to do-something "to prevent him idling about in town and doing nothing or worse." In order to provide this necessary occupation his mother offered him ￡4,000 with which to buy a seat in Parliament. She thought that a seat would keep him amused and out of mischief! In spite of the fact that he was a strenuous Radical, Sir Henry's only rema

udicial side, and was called the Examiner, his duties being to examine the reports of important law-cases sent from India to the Board of Directors. When one day I asked my father for his earliest recollection of any important event, he told me that he could well remember his father coming back from the India House (which was by a Thames wherry, for the Examiner lived at Shooter's Hill and had to cross the river) and saying to his mother: "The Emperor is dead." That was in the year 1822, and the Emperor was, of course, Na