1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Frye. Today we are going to talk 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 2: about Horace Walpole, author of The Castle of a Toronto, 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 2: which is often cited as the first Gothic novel, although 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 2: as is the case with everything. 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: There are all. 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 2: Kinds of precursors that a person could point to that 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 2: have some elements of the Gothic. In addition to writing 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 2: a novel that treated a foreboding castle almost as a 12 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 2: character on its own, Horace Walpole also spent a chunk 13 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 2: of his life turning the villa he bought in Twickenham 14 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 2: into a Gothic style castle of his own. So he 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 2: helped launch both Gothic literature as a genre and a 16 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 2: Gothic revival in art architecture. This was an accidental two parter. Honestly, 17 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 2: it was clear to me just in the bookmarking my 18 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 2: sources process that it was probably going to wind up 19 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 2: being two parts. A whole lot happened in his life. 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 2: I found a lot of it really interesting. Most of 21 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 2: the Gothic stuff is going to be in part two, 22 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 2: you're in a particularly halloweeny mood. Most of that is 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 2: in the next episode. 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,279 Speaker 1: There you Go. Horace Walpole was born on September twenty fourth, 25 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: seventeen seventeen, and his parents named him Horatio, but he 26 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: always liked the name Horace better. The family was not 27 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: part of the nobility, but they were well established, prominent, 28 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: and influential. Horace's mother, Catherine Shorter, was from a merchant 29 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: family who had made their money in Baltic timber. His 30 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: father has come up on the show before, in our 31 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: episode on the South Sea Bubble. He was Robert Walpole, 32 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: who would later be named First Earl of Orford. As 33 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: the title Prime Minister was not being used in the 34 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: UK at that point, Robert Walpole started carrying out what 35 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: was basically that role when Horace was about three, and 36 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: that continued for more than twenty years. Horace was the 37 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: last of Catherine and Robert's children, and he was eleven 38 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: years younger than his brother Edward, who was the next 39 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: oldest sibling. I think he might have had at least. 40 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 2: One sibling who was born in that period who died 41 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 2: as a baby, but I had some trouble actually confirming 42 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 2: that Katherine and Robert's marriage had started out happily, but 43 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: in the years after Edward's birth it had become increasingly strained. 44 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 2: By the time Horace was born, Catherine was fulfilling the 45 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 2: basic persona of the wife of a high ranking member 46 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 2: of the British government, but it was basically an open 47 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 2: secret that she and Robert were living almost completely separate lives, 48 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 2: and that both of them were having affairs. 49 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, in the words of biographer Dorothy Margaret Stewart, Horace 50 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: was a quote fragile, dark eyed elf of a child, 51 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: and he was so thin that people were constantly commenting 52 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: on it. And in that way he did not physically 53 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: resemble Robert at all. So this gap between him and 54 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: his older siblings, and the state of his parents' marriage, 55 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: and the fact that he did not look like his father, 56 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: led to rumors that he was really the son of Carr, 57 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: Lord Hervey, who was a member of Parliament for Bury, 58 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: Saint Edmund's. One source of this rumor was Lady Mary 59 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: Wartley Montague, whose granddaughter Lady Luisa Stuart, revived it in 60 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: memoirs that she wrote after Horace Walpole's death. Mary Whartley 61 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: Montague was very close to Maria Scarrett, who Robert had 62 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: a year's long affair with and who he married after 63 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: Catherine's death. 64 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 2: Horace, though never really expressed any questions or doubts about 65 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 2: his parentage, and it's not clear whether he even knew 66 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 2: that this rumor was floating around. Robert also didn't really 67 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 2: treat him as though he thought Horace might really be 68 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 2: somebody else's child, and Dorothy Margaret Stewart noted that while 69 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 2: Horace might not have looked like Robert, he did look 70 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 2: like Lady Mary Churchill, who was Robert's daughter with Maria Scarrett, 71 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 2: so maybe there was a family resemblance, just not the 72 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 2: one that people were expecting. 73 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: Sometimes jeans expressed differently in different children. As the baby 74 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: of the family, whose health was described in terms like 75 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: sickly and fragile, Horace was really doted on by his mother. 76 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: For a while, he was tutored along with some of 77 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: his cousins, and then in April of seventeen twenty seven, 78 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: at the age of nine, he left home to start 79 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: school at Eton College. Eaton is a prestigious school, but 80 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: like other British boarding schools of the era, its culture 81 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: was built on hazing and bullying. In other words, it 82 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: was kind of place that could be really inhospitable to 83 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: a child who was chronically ill and had spent the 84 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: first years of his life being coddled by his mother. 85 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 2: Horace may have had some protection from this thanks to 86 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 2: the fact that his father was one of the most 87 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 2: powerful people in the British government, but he also formed 88 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 2: tight friendships with three other boys, Thomas Gray, Thomas Ashton, 89 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 2: and Richard West. Horace made other friends at school too, 90 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 2: and he was particularly close to his cousin Henry Seymour Conway, 91 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 2: who was also at Eton, But these four boys formed 92 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 2: a particularly close group that they called the Quadruple Alliance. 93 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 2: They all looked after each other, they all supported each other, 94 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 2: they cultivated their mutual love of reading and writing literature 95 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 2: and verse. Thomas Gray would go on to be one 96 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 2: of the most well known and important British poets of 97 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 2: the eighteenth century. Folks may know him from elegy written 98 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 2: in a country churchyard, which was foreshore, an English class 99 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 2: staple when I was in high school. That's the one 100 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 2: that starts, the curfew tolls, the knell of parting day, 101 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 2: the lowing herd winds slowly, or the lee the plowman 102 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 2: homeward plods his weary way and leaves the world to 103 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 2: darkness and to me. 104 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: Walpole's father intended for him to study law and entered 105 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: him into Lincoln's Inn, one of the four inns of Court, 106 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: but Horace did not care for law, so he never 107 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: actually went. In seventeen thirty four, after finishing at Eton, 108 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: he went on to King's College, Cambridge. Thomas Gray and 109 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: Thomas Ashton both went to Cambridge as well, and they 110 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: all maintained their friendships with each other and with West 111 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: as he went to christ Church, Oxford. Walpole didn't really 112 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: enjoy his time in Cambridge, though he mostly tolerated it 113 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: thanks to the presence of his friends and some of 114 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: his cousins who were also studying there. He also left 115 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: Cambridge without finishing his coursework. He didn't specifically. 116 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 2: Say why, but a lot of people connected it to 117 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 2: the death of his mother, Catherine on August twentieth, seventeen 118 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 2: thirty seven. It is possible that this was a factor, 119 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: and he did take some long breaks from Cambridge, but 120 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 2: he didn't formally withdraw until more than a year and 121 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 2: a half after she'd died. Horace was truly devastated by 122 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 2: his mother's death, which isn't surprising considering how close they were. 123 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 2: Some of the people who knew him described him as 124 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 2: never quite the same again. Another layer to this was 125 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 2: that Horace's father really didn't seem to be affected by 126 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 2: Catherine's death at all. Within about six months, Robert had 127 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 2: married Maria Scaret in a lavish ceremony. As we said earlier, 128 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 2: he and Maria had been having an affair for years, 129 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 2: and they had already had two daughters together, one of 130 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 2: whom died in childhood. But Maria also died in June 131 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 2: of seventeen thirty eight following a pregnancy loss. Later on, 132 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 2: Robert secured a patent of precedence for their one surviving 133 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,679 Speaker 2: daughter so that she could be recognized as the daughter 134 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 2: of an earl. From that point she was known as 135 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 2: Lady Maria Walpole and then Lady Maria Churchill after getting married, 136 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 2: and that was the person people thought Horace looked like. 137 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 2: Seventeen thirty eight was also the year Horace Walpole attained 138 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 2: his majority, and his father arranged some sinecures for him, 139 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 2: that is, jobs that he got a financial benefit from, 140 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 2: but did not require him to actually do much work. 141 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 2: He was named Usher of the Exchequer, Controller of the Pipe, 142 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 2: and Clerk of the Streets, which were transcripts of records 143 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 2: as an example of what kind of work these appointments involved. 144 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,839 Speaker 2: As Usher of the Exchequer, Horace Walpole was responsible for 145 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 2: shutting the gates of the Exchequer building and making sure 146 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 2: that the clerks who actually worked they had enough paper 147 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 2: and sand and ink and scissors and stuff like that. 148 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 2: Basically what we would consider a really low level, entry 149 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 2: level kind of job, except it paid grown up wages. Yeah, 150 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 2: you didn't even have to go to work every day necessarily. 151 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: Walpole seems to have had at least some self awareness 152 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: about the inequity involved in this whole setup. Later in 153 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: his life there was an investigation into this system, and 154 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: he wrote at length about these positions and the people 155 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: who held them. He wrote, in part quote, patent places 156 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: for life have existed from time immemorial, by law and 157 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,959 Speaker 1: under all changes of government. He who holds an ancient 158 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: patent place enjoys it as much by law as any 159 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: gentleman holds his estate, and by more ancient tenure than 160 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 1: most gentlemen hold theirs. And from the same fountain only 161 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: of ancient or date, than many of the nobility and 162 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: gentry hold their estates, who possess them only by grants 163 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: from the Crown, as I possess my places, which were 164 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: not wrung from the Church and in violation of the 165 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: intention of the donors, as a vast number of estates were. 166 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: Nor can I think myself as a patent placement, a 167 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: more useless or a less legal engrosser of part of 168 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: the wealth of the nation than deans and prebendaries, who 169 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: fatten on Christianity like any less holy incumbent of a fee. 170 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: While there are distinctions of ranks and unequal divisions of 171 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:29,239 Speaker 1: property not acquired by personal merit, but by birth or favors, 172 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: some will be more fortunate than others. The poor are 173 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: most entitled to complain. But an archdeacon or a country 174 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: gentleman has very little grace in complaining that any other 175 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: unprofitable class is indulged by the laws in the enjoyment 176 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: of more than an equal share of property with the 177 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: meanest laborer or lowest mechanic. He went on to say, quote, 178 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: having said this with the confidence that does not misbecome 179 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 1: a legal possessor. I am far from protect any other plea, 180 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: much less to any merit in myself. A tender parent 181 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: lavished riches on me greatly beyond my dessert, of which 182 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: I am so little conscious in myself that if the 183 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: distress of the public require a revocation of gifts bestowed 184 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: by the Crown in its splendor, I know no man 185 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: who can plead fewer services to his country or less 186 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: merit in himself than I can. He also seems to 187 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: have tried to avoid the various ways these positions could 188 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: be involved in corruption, like if some politician was suggesting 189 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: he might get paid a little extra, or tried to 190 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: withhold his pay to get him to do something, he 191 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: generally just ignored it and went on with his very 192 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:47,079 Speaker 1: minimal work. 193 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 2: While Paul's appointments to these positions also did not prevent 194 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 2: him from spending a couple of years traveling around Western 195 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 2: Europe while still being paid starting in seventeen thirty nine. 196 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 2: Have more on that after a sponsor break. It's possible 197 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,439 Speaker 2: that Horace Walpole was motivated to get away from England 198 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 2: in seventeen thirty nine because he had just been through 199 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 2: some kind of a breakup Thomas Gray wrote him a 200 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 2: letter the year before in which he expressed surprise about 201 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 2: Walpole's news. He doesn't say specifically what the news was, 202 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 2: but it's really clear from the language that it was 203 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 2: a relationship with a woman. Gray frames all of this 204 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 2: as quote of all likely things the last I should 205 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 2: have believed would come to pass, and in the letter 206 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 2: he also wishes his friend joy. It is not clear 207 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 2: who this relationship might have been with. There's some speculation 208 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 2: that it was one of his cousins on the Conway side. 209 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 2: When Horace set out for his grand tour of the 210 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 2: continent in seventeen thirty nine, Thomas Gray went with him. 211 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 2: While these two men had been friends for years, there 212 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,439 Speaker 2: was a huge disparity between them in terms of their 213 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 2: family's wealth and position. Horace's father was essentially the Prime Minister, 214 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,679 Speaker 2: and Horace had been given positions that were providing him 215 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 2: with an income of about nine hundred pounds a year, 216 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 2: which was enough for him to live on and to 217 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,839 Speaker 2: travel on his own money. These kinds of comparisons are 218 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 2: always really messy and inexact, but this would be an 219 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 2: equivalent to very approximately one hundred and six thousand pounds 220 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 2: or one hundred and forty thousand dollars today. Meanwhile, Thomas's 221 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 2: father was a scrivener and his mother and aunt owned 222 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 2: a millinery business together. They weren't poor by any stretch, 223 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 2: but Thomas was one of twelve children and they had 224 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 2: to be frugal. Thomas was able to go to Eton 225 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 2: because two of his mother's brothers worked there, and his 226 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 2: education at Cambridge was paid for with scholarship and his 227 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 2: mother's earnings from the millinery shop. Before leaving, Walpole secretly 228 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,680 Speaker 2: wrote out a will that would leave everything to Gray 229 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 2: if he died during their journey. This disparity in their 230 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 2: financial positions caused some tension during their travels. There was 231 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 2: no way not to notice that Walpole was the one 232 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 2: who was paying for everything, and that started to bother 233 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 2: Gray after a while. They also just had very different temperaments. 234 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 2: Walpole was enjoying himself, he was going to dinners and parties, 235 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 2: but over and over, Gray's letters say that he's writing 236 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 2: to whoever he's corresponding with from their rooms alone while 237 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 2: Walpole was out, and that Gray had not gone out 238 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 2: with him even though he had been invited to. Gray 239 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 2: was also a lot more interested in taking in all 240 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 2: of the artwork and the cultural sites of the continent 241 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 2: than Walpole really was. 242 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: Walpole and Gray spent two w months in Paris and 243 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: then traveled around Reims de Jean Leon and into the 244 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: French Alps. From there, they decided to spend the winter 245 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: in Italy. Pope Clement the twelfth died on February sixth, 246 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: seventeen forty, and the two men made their way toward 247 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: Rome with the thought that they might be there when 248 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: the new pope was elected. That didn't wind up happening, though, 249 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: Clement's successor, Benedict the fourteenth, wasn't elected until July, and 250 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: by that point they had decided to move on. They 251 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: had some discussions about this which were like, well, what 252 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: if we leave and then the new pope is elected 253 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: like tomorrow. For Walpole's part, the idea of seeing the 254 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: new pope elected really was not about religion. It was 255 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: about the spectacle that would be involved with that. Walpole 256 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: had a number of pretty anti Catholic views. Some of 257 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: that came through in his writing on patent places that 258 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: we read before the break. Of course, France and Italy 259 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: were both dominantly Catholic countries, but since Rome is also 260 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: home to the Vatican, Catholicism was seemingly inescapable there. 261 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 2: Walpole did not really like that. 262 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: Aside from that, Pope Clement had given James Francis Edward Stewart, 263 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: also known as the Old Pretender, a place to live 264 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: in Rome, and the Jacobite court in exile was a 265 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: popular stop on tours of the continent, regardless of a 266 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: person's religion, So as a quick recap, James Edward was 267 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: the son of deposed King of England, James the Second 268 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: of the House of Stuart, and the Jacobites wanted to 269 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: restore the Stewarts to the throne of England. Not long 270 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: after this, James Edward's son, Charles Edward Stewart, known as 271 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: Bonnie Prince Charlie, would lead an uprising in an effort 272 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: to overthrow King George the Second and put his father 273 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: on the throne. We covered this on the show on 274 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: July fourth of twenty sixteen. Of course, Walpole's father was 275 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: King George's Prime minister. While Walpole had some sympathies for 276 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: the plight of James supporters, especially as they faced political oppression, 277 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: he did not agree with the Jacobites goals, and he 278 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: did not like how many Jacobites there were in Rome. 279 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,360 Speaker 1: Walpole was definitely at some of the same social events 280 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: as James Edward and his sons, but it isn't clear 281 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: whether he actually spoke to any of them. 282 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 2: Later on, in Tuscany, Walpole met thirty four year old 283 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 2: British diplomat Sir Horace Mann, and they would be close 284 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 2: for the rest of Man's life. They maintained this friendship 285 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 2: for more than forty years, entirely through letter writing, because 286 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,719 Speaker 2: while Walpole made several trips to France later on, he 287 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,439 Speaker 2: never went back to Florence in Italy. When Walpole and 288 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 2: Gray left Florence, Mann wrote Walpole a letter in which 289 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 2: he said, quote, I am more miserable than I wish 290 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,880 Speaker 2: you to conceive, and therefore will not attempt to describe 291 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 2: it to you. Neither would I willingly give you a 292 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 2: moment's uneasiness. One thing alone makes me really happy, which 293 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,120 Speaker 2: is that I am sure you love me and are 294 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,639 Speaker 2: convinced of my most sincere and tender affection for you. 295 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 2: This is all I can say on this subject, though 296 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 2: it employs every moment of my thoughts. Italy had a 297 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,400 Speaker 2: reputation for being more sexually liberated and unrestrained than England, 298 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 2: and it was common for upper class English visitors to 299 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 2: take advantage of that. Walpole had various flirtations while he 300 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 2: was there, including with Elizabeta Capponi, the wife of Marquees Graffoni. 301 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 2: Their speculation about whether any of these relationships were physical, 302 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 2: with different historians coming to different conclusions they could be 303 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 2: emotionally very intense, though Elizabetha Capponi is described as weeping 304 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 2: over Horace Walpole long after he left her behind. Walpole 305 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:58,640 Speaker 2: and Gray stops traveling together in May of seventeen forty one. 306 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 2: It might have been that the diffrences and their finances 307 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 2: and their temperament and interest just gradually led to a 308 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 2: breach in their relationship, or there could have been some 309 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 2: kind of incident that led to a falling out that 310 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,120 Speaker 2: neither of them explicitly documented. We don't really know at 311 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 2: the time, though Gray's letters made it sound like he 312 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 2: was just kinda tired of this whole experience, including all 313 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 2: of the socializing and the travel. 314 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: Walpole, on the other hand, took responsibility for it, writing 315 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: quote it arose from Gray being too serious a companion. 316 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: Gray was for antiquities. I was for perpetual balls and plays. 317 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: The fault was mine. But later on Walpole wrote a 318 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: letter to his friend George Montague that was pretty harsh 319 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: toward Gray. Quote, he is the worst company in the world, 320 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: from a melancholy turn, from living reclusely, and from a 321 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:55,439 Speaker 1: little too much dignity. He never converses easily. All his 322 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,399 Speaker 1: words are measured and chosen and formed into sentences. His 323 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 1: writings are admirable. He himself is not agreeable. Whatever his 324 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: feelings were. 325 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 2: Walpole made arrangements for all of Gray's expenses to be covered, 326 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 2: once again doing this in secret. I have various questions 327 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 2: about how whether Gray would have just thought this was 328 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,400 Speaker 2: obvious that somebody was paying all of his bills. But regardless, 329 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 2: Gray left for Venice, Walpole stayed behind in Reggio. It 330 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 2: is possible that Walpole thought this was just kind of 331 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 2: a temporary disagreement and he'd be able to go to 332 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,440 Speaker 2: Venice and catch up with Gray. But he got sick 333 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 2: and that became impossible. It started out with an attack 334 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 2: of tom solitis, and from there Walpole became very ill 335 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 2: and nearly died. He had gone without medical care for 336 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 2: some time. This was probably a combination of underestimating how 337 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,959 Speaker 2: sick he really was and also not trusting the local doctors. Eventually, 338 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 2: Henry Pelham Clinton, the Earl of Lincoln, and his tutor 339 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 2: Joseph Spence got help for Walpole, including sending for a 340 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 2: doctor they personally knew and could vouch for. 341 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: Once he had recovered, Walpole started making his way back 342 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: to England. He arrived in London on September fourteenth, seventeen 343 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: forty one, and we'll talk more about that after we 344 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: pause for a sponsor break. 345 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 2: When he got back to England, Horace Walpole lived with 346 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 2: his father, Robert, including at Robert's neoclassical estate of Houghton 347 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 2: Hall in Norfolk. Horace had already been elected to serve 348 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 2: as MP for Callington in Cornwall, which was a borough 349 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 2: that his family had connections to but which he had 350 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 2: personally never visited. Then he was elected to represent Castle 351 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 2: Rising in seventeen fifty four. This, like Callington, was known 352 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 2: as a rotten borough. Basically, these were boroughs that still 353 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 2: had to MP's in the House of Commons, but they 354 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 2: had almost no voters actually living there, both to vote 355 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 2: for these MPs, and for the MPs to represent MPs 356 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 2: from these boroughs were a lot of the times pretty 357 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 2: much handpicked by people in power. Then in seventeen fifty seven, 358 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 2: Horace Walpole followed his uncle and namesake, also named Horace Walpole, 359 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 2: to represent King's Lynn, and he served as MP for 360 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,920 Speaker 2: kings Lynn until seventeen sixty nine. 361 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: We're putting all of Horace Walpole's time in the House 362 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: of Commons together because there really isn't all that much 363 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,719 Speaker 1: to say about it. He served in Parliament through a 364 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: series of notable historical events in England, including the Jacobite Rising, 365 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: the Seven Years' War, and rising tensions between England and 366 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: its colonies in the Americas. He left extensive documentation of 367 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: a lot of these events through his correspondence with other 368 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 1: people as they were happening. But he wasn't all that 369 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: acting or visible as an MP, and he did more 370 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: of his work kind of behind the scenes. In his words, 371 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: he was a quote person who loves to write history 372 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: better than to act in it. His first speech before 373 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: Parliament was on March twenty third of seventeen forty two. 374 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: His father had become increasingly unpopular and had lost a 375 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,360 Speaker 1: lot of power. Younger politicians were also starting to see 376 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: Robert Walpole as too old and too out of touch 377 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: to be in the position that he was in. The 378 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: Walpoles were Whigs, and Robert eventually lost the support of 379 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:40,639 Speaker 1: that party. He was forced to resign on February second, 380 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 1: seventeen forty two. Trus's speech the following month was in 381 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: defense of his father and critical of a proposal to 382 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: investigate Robert's last ten years in office. Meanwhile, the King 383 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: named Robert Walpole Earl of Orford and granted him an 384 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: annual pension of four thousands. We do have a sense 385 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: of some of Walpole's opinions based on correspondence around what 386 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: was happening in Parliament. In February of seventeen fifty, the 387 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: Royal African Company was under attack and had sought reinforcement. 388 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: The company had a monopoly on trade in West Africa 389 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: and was also a major part of the Transatlantic slave trade. 390 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: After these debates, Walpole wrote in a letter quote we 391 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,439 Speaker 1: the British Senate that Temple of Liberty and bulwark of 392 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: Protestant Christianity have this fortnight been considering methods to make 393 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: more effectual that horrid traffic of selling negroes. It has 394 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: appeared to us that six and forty thousand of these 395 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: wretches are sold every year to our plantations alone. It 396 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,439 Speaker 1: chills one's blood. I would not have to say I 397 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,159 Speaker 1: voted for it. For the continent of America. The destruction 398 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,360 Speaker 1: of the miserable inhabitants by the Spaniards was but a 399 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: momentary misfortune that followed from the discovery of the New World, 400 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 1: compared with the lasting havoc which it brought upon Africa. 401 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 2: After returning to England, Horace Walpole spent his time either 402 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 2: in parliament or at home with his father or socializing, 403 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 2: and he also devoted more and more time to reading 404 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 2: and writing, and studying art and acquiring items for what 405 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 2: would become extensive personal collections. In the words of Leonard 406 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 2: Benton seely in a collection of Walpole's letters, quote Walpole 407 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 2: found in art and literature the chief employment of his 408 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,920 Speaker 2: serious hours. His reading was extensive, the most solid portion 409 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 2: of it being in the regions of history and archaeology. 410 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 2: More engrossing than his love of books was his passion 411 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:49,160 Speaker 2: for collecting and imitating antiquities and curiosities of all kinds. 412 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 2: His ample fortune furnished him with the means of indulging 413 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 2: these expensive pursuits. In seventeen forty three, Walpole wrote Eighties Walpole, 414 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 2: which was a catalog of his father's art collection, along 415 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 2: with his own opinions and judgments about what that collection contained, 416 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 2: although this wasn't published until much later. In seventeen seventy nine, 417 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 2: Walpole's nephew sold much of this art collection to Catherine 418 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 2: the Great, something that the British Museum tried to stop, 419 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 2: and many of the paintings are still part of the 420 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:27,120 Speaker 2: collection at the Hermitage Museum. Robert Walpole died on March eighteenth, 421 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,719 Speaker 2: seventeen forty five, and Horace's brother Robert inherited the title 422 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:36,400 Speaker 2: of Earl of Orford. Horace inherited a house and some property, 423 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,959 Speaker 2: as well as a lot of debt. Once all of 424 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 2: that was settled, though he had a total income of 425 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 2: roughly three thousand pounds a year. With all of those 426 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 2: same caveats as before, you can imagine this as being 427 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 2: roughly equivalent to three hundred and fifty thousand pounds a 428 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 2: year or four hundred and fifty six thousand dollars a year. 429 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 2: That amount changed at various points for various reasons, but 430 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 2: it was always enough for Horace Walpole to basically be 431 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 2: very comfortable and do whatever he wanted. In seventeen forty five, 432 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,639 Speaker 2: he also reconciled with Thomas Gray. The Jacobite Rising of 433 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 2: seventeen forty five started later that year, something that Walpole 434 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:22,159 Speaker 2: chronicled in his letters, although since he wasn't personally involved, 435 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 2: he was getting his information from the same sources as 436 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 2: everyone else, so his letters were often behind what was 437 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,919 Speaker 2: actually happening and reflected whatever misinformation was floating around. A 438 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 2: lot of his own fears during this time were about 439 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,680 Speaker 2: what would happen to him if the Jacobites were successful, 440 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 2: since his own position and income were tied to the 441 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 2: monarch and the government they were trying to overthrow. We 442 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 2: said earlier that. 443 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,159 Speaker 1: In some ways he was sympathetic to the Jacobites, and 444 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: that continued to be true as the leaders of the 445 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: uprising were tried and hanged in seventeen forty six. 446 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 2: We will leave off this part of our two parter 447 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 2: with this inscription of the adult Horus Walpole by Letitia 448 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 2: Matilda Hawkins, who was a novelist who also published volumes 449 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 2: and volumes of biography and gossip quote. His figure was 450 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 2: not merely tall, but more properly long and slender to 451 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 2: excess his complexion, and particularly his hands of a most 452 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 2: unhealthy paleness. His eyes were remarkably bright and penetrating, very 453 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 2: dark and lively. His voice was not strong, but his 454 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 2: tones were extremely pleasant, and, if I may say so, 455 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,679 Speaker 2: highly gentlemanly. I do not remember his common gait. He 456 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 2: always entered a room in that style of affected delicacy 457 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 2: which fashion had then made almost natural. Chapeaubride between his hands, 458 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 2: as if he wished to compress it, or under his arm, 459 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 2: knees bent, and feet on tiptoe, as if afraid of 460 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 2: a wet floor. His dress and visiting was most usually 461 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 2: in summer, when I most saw him, a lavender, the 462 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 2: waistcoat embroidered with a little silver or of white silk 463 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 2: worked in the timber, partridge, silk, stockings and gold buckles, 464 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 2: ruffles and frill, generally lace. I remember, when a child, 465 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 2: thinking him very much under dressed. If at any time 466 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 2: except in mourning, he wore hemmed cambric in summer, no powder, 467 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,040 Speaker 2: but his wig combed straight and showing his very smooth 468 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 2: pale forehead and cued behind in winter powder. I love 469 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 2: the distinction of whether he had powder or not. So yeah, 470 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 2: that's where we're going to leave off on Horace Walpole today. 471 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 2: We will get to all of the castles next time 472 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 2: and all of the Gothic literature and all. 473 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: Of that in the meantime. Do you have a bit 474 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: of listener mail for us? I do. 475 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 2: I have listener mail from Annabelle, and I'm not going 476 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 2: to read the actual email because it does include a 477 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 2: lot of, you know, sort of personal and professional detail. 478 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: But it is on a SME. 479 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 2: That we get emails about fairly often, so I just 480 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 2: kind of wanted to speak more generally about it. Animal 481 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 2: wrote about being a freelance historian who's just graduated and 482 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 2: wanting to know about basically job opportunities. So, first of all, 483 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 2: on our show, Holly and I do not hire like 484 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 2: interns or research assistance or positions like that. We get 485 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 2: a lot of resumes and stuff like that from folks 486 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,720 Speaker 2: who are interested in possibly researching, or writing or otherwise 487 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 2: working for the show. iHeart sometimes does have like production internships, 488 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 2: but those would not necessarily be working with our show 489 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 2: specifically in any way. They would be folks who are 490 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 2: doing sort of audio production, editing, stuff like that, possibly 491 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 2: for a lot of different shows across the network. Not 492 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 2: necessarily ours in terms of things a person can do 493 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 2: with a history degree. Annabelle wrote from the UK, and 494 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 2: I'm just going to confess, boy, do I have no 495 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 2: idea of how to get a job in the UK. 496 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 2: I think at this point I barely know how to 497 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 2: get a job in the United States because I have 498 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 2: been doing this job for so long that I have 499 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 2: not tried to find a job in almost twenty years. 500 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 2: But I will say that the field of history and 501 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 2: the study of history, in my opinion, does set people 502 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 2: up to do a lot of different work depending on 503 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 2: your interest what you're interested in, So the path to 504 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 2: becoming like an academic historian, my first advice would be 505 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 2: to like make connections with other people who are doing 506 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 2: that kind of work, to both, you know, be connected 507 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 2: within the field, but also to really find out whether 508 00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 2: that is what you actually want to do. When I 509 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 2: was in college, I did not study history. I studied literature. 510 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 2: But I was absolutely convinced that what I wanted to 511 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 2: do with my life was to go to graduate school 512 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 2: and get a PhD and then teach at the college level. 513 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 2: And in hindsight twenty years later, boy am I glad 514 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 2: that is not what I did. I do not think 515 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 2: I actually would have liked that. So there are a 516 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 2: lot of historical sites, museums, libraries, all kinds of institutions 517 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 2: who work with history and with historians in some way, 518 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 2: and you know, there are sometimes these are jobs that 519 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 2: are really creative that involve in some way explaining history 520 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 2: to the general public, or explaining the institution's historical mission 521 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 2: to the general public, or stuff like that. So there, 522 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 2: I think are a lot of ways to bring the 523 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 2: study of history and the pursuit of history to a 524 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 2: lot of different jobs, and what it takes to get 525 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 2: those jobs is really going to depend on the field, 526 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 2: whether it's in academia or not, whether it is a 527 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 2: government position or not, any of that. Holly and I 528 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 2: both sort of fell into this show by accident. We've 529 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 2: told that story before, but as a recap, we were 530 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 2: doing a completely different podcast together. Prior hosts of this show, 531 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 2: Sarah and Doblina, one had gotten another job and the 532 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 2: other had said it is time for me to also 533 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 2: step away from this. And so since Holly and I 534 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 2: were already working together, were already interested in history, already 535 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 2: had a little podcast experience, and this is again our job. 536 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 2: We got moved over onto this show, and now that 537 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 2: has been more than a decade ago, which is a 538 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 2: little hard to believe. So yeah, I feel like that 539 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 2: was kind of a very general discussion of jobs in 540 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 2: the field of history. 541 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean we have had some guests on in 542 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 1: the past, and I always try to seek out people 543 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,800 Speaker 1: who maybe are dealing with history in ways you wouldn't 544 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,439 Speaker 1: have thought of before. Like we've had people that work 545 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: at like the Atlanta History Center and they literally focus 546 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 1: on their historical plant collection, you know, and manage their 547 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: trees and also their animal collection, like making sure they 548 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: have heritage breeds that make sense. There are things like that, 549 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: but I think there are a lot of interesting spaces 550 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: where people can kind of find unique jobs that relate 551 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 1: to history, but they are kind of tricky to suss out, right, 552 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:49,520 Speaker 1: Like some places, like you know, some film studios will 553 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: have a historian who literally manages their stuff, or some 554 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: you know, like large corporations will have a corporate historian 555 00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: that keeps track of the history of the company. Like 556 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: there are a lot of interesting spaces that are not 557 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:04,840 Speaker 1: at all what you might initially think of when you 558 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 1: think of I want a job working in history, But 559 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: as Tracy said, it has to be ideally something interesting 560 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,720 Speaker 1: to you. I'm a big fan of people liking their jobs. 561 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: It's not easy to do. There are lots of jobs 562 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 1: that are not fun that we have all taken. And 563 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,239 Speaker 1: even a job you love, you know is going to 564 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: come with some moments where you're like, I do not 565 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:30,400 Speaker 1: enjoy this. But I had a I had a great 566 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,919 Speaker 1: boss many many years ago when I was working in 567 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: cable television, and in my interview, she said to me, 568 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: my goal is always if we can have only ten 569 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: percent of anybody's job, be the sucky part that they 570 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 1: don't like, I feel pretty good about it. And that 571 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: is a great way to think about it as a boss, right, Like, 572 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: I only want you to have I can't promise you 573 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: you're going to love every part of it, but if 574 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:57,399 Speaker 1: I can promise ten percent or less of it will 575 00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,120 Speaker 1: be the stuff that you hate, then I feel like 576 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: I'm doing an okay job. And I was like, this 577 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 1: is a great way to look at a career. So 578 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:04,759 Speaker 1: that has stuck with me for a long time, So 579 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,760 Speaker 1: look for jobs. We're only ten percent of it looks yucky. 580 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, when I when what I thought I was going 581 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 2: to be doing was like taking a year or so 582 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 2: off and then try again to go to graduate school, 583 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 2: I was really looking for jobs that I was going 584 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 2: to be writing, because my you know, my degree was 585 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,959 Speaker 2: in literature with a focus in creative writing. I did 586 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,720 Speaker 2: the literature track and the creative writing track, and I 587 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:38,359 Speaker 2: wound up finding jobs where writing was my job. But 588 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 2: like I was writing the instructions on how to clean 589 00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:46,520 Speaker 2: the restaurant for a company that made cleaning chemicals. And 590 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 2: it turned out that even though that job did involve 591 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 2: writing and occasionally there were things involved that were more creative, like, 592 00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 2: I just found it to be not mentally stimulating in 593 00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,600 Speaker 2: a way that I thought it would be. And so 594 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,800 Speaker 2: for a while I took a break from that entire field, 595 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 2: and I got a license to practice massage, and I 596 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:09,799 Speaker 2: was a licensed massage therapist for a few years, and 597 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 2: then I circled back around to writing and wound up 598 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,520 Speaker 2: here where I research and write about history all the 599 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 2: time and then say all that into a microphone. So, yeah, 600 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 2: it's tough to give like broad, concrete job advice, but 601 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 2: that's sort of where we are. 602 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: It is it is. 603 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:31,359 Speaker 2: And then again, I definitely appreciate all the people who 604 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 2: write in are like I would love to work on 605 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,359 Speaker 2: your show. It is very flattering to hear that from 606 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 2: so many people, But like Holly and I are not 607 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 2: hiring people to do those kinds of roles, which I'm 608 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,880 Speaker 2: sure is a disappointment to folks to hear that, but 609 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 2: like the reality that we're living in. 610 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, I also always feel like I'm a bad person 611 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,480 Speaker 1: to give job advice in general because I have never 612 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: had a clear vision. I'm a brass ringer. I see 613 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: an opportunity that's interesting, and I'll jump on it. But 614 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,160 Speaker 1: I've never been like my next step is my five 615 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 1: year plan. I'm like, I'm going to do this until 616 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: I don't like doing this anymore, and then we'll see 617 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 1: what's up. 618 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:12,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. 619 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,000 Speaker 1: And also I think that's informed because there have been 620 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:16,840 Speaker 1: jobs that I had that I thought were going to 621 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 1: be amazing, right, and I hated them. Yeah, Yeah, and 622 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:23,280 Speaker 1: vice versa. There have been jobs I thought I'm getting 623 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,839 Speaker 1: this job just to like subsist while I figure out 624 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:29,040 Speaker 1: what my next step is and then I'm like, oh, 625 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: I actually am pretty happy in this job, and I 626 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,720 Speaker 1: actually really like this stuff that I do, and maybe 627 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 1: make a life here, so you know what changes you 628 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,840 Speaker 1: never know. Yeah. So yeah, that's the worst career advice 629 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:45,239 Speaker 1: anybody could ever give a thing. I just kind of 630 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:45,959 Speaker 1: hang out. Wait. 631 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:55,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, So anyway, if you'd like to send us a 632 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,799 Speaker 2: note about this, if you have job advice you want 633 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,359 Speaker 2: us to read on the air, maybe we will, maybe won't. 634 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:02,799 Speaker 2: We'll see. But you can send that to us at 635 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:07,359 Speaker 2: History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe 636 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:11,160 Speaker 2: to the show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever else 637 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 2: you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 638 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:22,600 Speaker 2: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 639 00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:26,800 Speaker 2: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 640 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:28,360 Speaker 2: you listen to your favorite shows.