THE ELIOTS OR ELLIOTS.
[To THE. EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]
August 3, 1865.
SIR,—Now that politics are less absorbing, may I venture to ask space for some additions to the correct and interesting account which you have given of the family of the Elliota ?
The first Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, born in 1650, originally came into public notice through his zealous exertions for his friends and associates when in danger. You have quoted some jesting allusions by himself and the Rev. William Veitch, of Dumfries, made in their later and more prosperous days, to their early perils and struggles. In 1679 Mr. Veitch lay under sen- tence of death. Elliot hastened to London and succeeded in obtaining a remission of the sentence, which reached Edinburgh just in time to save Veitcles life. Two years afterwards he went on a similar errand in favour of the Earl of Argyll, and although he failed in obtaining a pardon, he succeeded in saving his friend, for learning that the King desired sentence of death to be passed on Argyll, he ontrode the Royal messenger to Edinburgh by twenty-four hours, and gave Argyll a warning which led him to escape from prison that very evening. When the directions from London arrived the bird had flown.
But my chief object is to mention to you a much later member of the family, a younger brother of the first Earl of Minto, the Governor-General of India. He led too adventurous a life, and was too much connected with some of the most eminent persons in the stirring age to which he belonged, not to deserve a notice in any annals of his race. Hugh Elliot was born in 1751. In 1764 he went with his elder brother to Paris, where they enjoyed the inestimable advantage of being under the care of David Hume, and also formed an intimacy with Mirabeau, which lasted as long as Mirabeau lived. So great did this friendship become, that a cottage was actually designed at Minto, at Mirabeau's re- quest, to be his refuge if he had been driven forth in the storms of the Revolution. Hugh Elliot was possessed with a thirst for military adventure, and in 1772, after a fruitless at- tempt to- gain admission into the Austrian army, he made his way to the Russian army, engaged under Marshal Romanzow, in Moldavia, against the Turks, and went through a campaign with them as a volunteer. He served in the division with Potemkin, the future favourite of the Empress Catherine, and was the comrade of Souvaroff, not yet known to fame. In this campaign he performed some exploits which are recorded in the memoirs of the day, and was most honourably mentioned by the Field-Marshal, both in private letters and in his despatches to his Government. In 1773, however, he was turned to a more peaceful destiny, and at the early age of twenty-two was appointed British Envoy to Munich. From thence he was pro- rooted, in 1777, to the Court of Frederick the Great. The King was sufficiently ill-humoured in those days, and would often address severe remarks to the young Minister, which the latter answered by repartees, some of which became celebrated. There was a famous retort about Hyder Ali, whom Frederick described as overcoming the English, but was assured in reply that he was only an old King, who used to pillage his neighbours, but had begun to dote, and ceased to be feared. In a fit of anger the King had appointed a Minister to London, characterized in a private journal as an "ill-conditioned fellow, named only to spite the English Cabinet." " What do they say of — in London ?" asked Frederick, tauntingly. "Digne reprisentant de votre Majesti," replied Mr. Elliot, bowing to the ground. Another time the King said scornfully, " It seems that Providence is the only ally remaining to England."—"At all events, Sire," was the answer, " the only one which does not ask us for subsidies."
From Berlin Hugh Elliot was removed to Denmark in 1782, and in 1792 to Dresden, having previously been employed by Mr. Pitt on a secret mission of importance to Paris. His life and society at Dresden have been agreeably described in the lively pages of Mrs. Trench. Here he began his acquaintance with Lord Nelson, with whom he afterwards made a passage, and with whom he was eventually brought into intimate relations as Minister at the Court of Naples, for to that Court he was accredited in 1802, and so remained until 1806, a time when the post derived especial importance from being almost the only point of contact be- tween British diplomacy and the Continent of Europe. He was Governor of the Leeward Islands from 1806 to 1814, and of Madras until 1820 ; and after a abort visit to France in July, 1830, he closed his days in London at the end of that year.
Brilliant in speech and impetuous in action, he was admired by his contemporaries, but he has left no written record to give him permanent fame. The very dates, however, suggest much. The first public event which he could remember witnessing was the funeral of George H., the last was the change in France which placed Louis Philippe on the throne. In the eventful interval he had lived through the Revolution which separated England from the United States, had personally seen much of that mightier Revolution which changed the face of society in France and in Europe, and had represented his country at various places abroad in the long wars which ensued.
Himself he had played a part in the Court of Frederick the Great, had fought in the armies of the Empress Catherine, and had been admitted to be a close spectator of the fleet of England when Nelson was its commander. Singularly modest about himself, he always refused to bring together any account of the adventures of his varied life, and was content to have taken his humble share in the efforts which in those critical times every intelligent Englishman was bound to make for his country. But although he would never let his name be put forward on any more public occasion, I am sure you will agree with me, Sir, that no one could have better earned a place for it in the chronicles of his own family.—I remain your most obedient servant, ONE OF THE CLAN.
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