Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/280

 Coronation' in the 'Ingoldsby Legends' called special attention to the presence of

'that swate charmer, The famale heiress, Miss Anjā-ly Coutts.'

Suitors were soon numerous and speculation as to her choice of a husband greatly exercised the public mind. No young man of good family is said to have abstained from a proposal, and exaggerated rumour ncluded the duke of Wellington and Prince Louis Napoleon among aspirants to her hand. But she declined all advances, and devoted herself exclusively to social entertainment and philanthropy, both of which she practised at her sole discretion on a comprehensive scale and on the highest and most disinterested principles. To her house, No 1 Stratton Street, she annexed the adjoining house, No. 80 Piccadilly, which reverted to her when the duke of St. Albans died in 1849, and there as well as at Holly Lodge, of which the duke's death also put her in possession, she extended hospitality to everybody of rank or any sort of distinction, whether English or foreign, for nearly sixty years. Her intimates were not many, but were of varied interests. She travelled little away from London, but from 1860 to 1877 she had a winter residence at Torquay. Her father's literary associates, Tom Moore and Samuel Rogers, were among her earliest friends. To the former she showed her tiara of Marie Antoinette and other famous jewels in 1845. The duke of Wellington was also soon one of her frequent guests. In May 1850 a grand entertainment which she gave in the duke's honour provoked much public notice. To her inner circle there were at the same time admitted Sir Robert Peel and Samuel Wilberforce, bishop of Winchester, while both Disraeli and Gladstone were well known to her. With the royal family, many of whom were clients of Coutts's bank, she was from the first in close social relations. She was on very cordial terms with the first duke and duchess of Cambridge, and the intimacy was maintained with their son, the second duke of Cambridge, and especially with their daughter, the duchess of Teck. The latter's son, Prince Francis of Teck, was her godson, and to the duchess of Teck's daughter Mary, afterwards Queen Mary, she was always attached. French acquaintances were numerous. She visited the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie at Compiegne, and she numbered the Duc d'Aumale among her friends till his death. For Americans the baroness cherished a regard, Her guests included from time to time the American ministers Motley, Bancroft, J. R. Lowell, Phelps, as well as statesmen of distinction, like Daniel Webster, Everett, and Robert Winthrop. In literature, science, art, and- the stage she was always interested. Shakespeare was an early hero, and she acquired by the advice of her friend William Harness [q. v.] the finest known copy of the first folio in 1864 at the then record price of 716?. [see art. ]. Queen Victoria wrote her a letter of congratulation on the acquisition, and sent her a piece of Herne's oak from Windsor forest to make a casket to contain the book. At the sale of Samuel Rogers's pictures in 1855 she was a liberal purchaser. With Charles Dickens she formed a close friendship. The novelist aided her in many of her schemes of beneficence, and she took charge of his eldest son's education. To her Dickens dedicated his novel 'Martin Chuzzlewit' in 1844. 'She is a most excellent creature,' he wrote in 1843, 'and I have a most perfect affection and respect for her.' Her scientific friends included Sir William Hooker and his son Sir Joseph, whom she often visited at Kew, as well as Faraday and Tyndall. To leading actors she extended a generous hospitality. She was well acquainted with Macready, and when Henry Irving made his first success at the Lyceum Theatre in 1870 she became one of his most loyal admirers. Though she did not interest herself financially in his theatrical ventures, she freely used her social influence on his behalf, and commissioned Edwin Long to paint several portraits of him. She never missed any of his great revivals, and after the first performance of 'Richard III,' on 29 Jan. 1877, she presented him with Garrick's ring. In 1879 he was one of her yachting party in the Mediterranean and Adriatic, where he studied the costumes and scenic effects for his production of 'The Merchant of Venice.'

But Miss Burdett-Coutts's aim and chief occupation in life did not lie in social hospitality or recreation, although she never neglected either. Her business capacity was very great, and she personally administered her vast wealth. In the affairs of the bank, in which she held the largest share, she played an active part. Yet her energies were mainly spent in applying her fortune to purposes of private and public beneficence. Her relief of private suffering was catholic and discriminating ; she personally studied each case, and her sturdy commonsense duly restrained her lively