Lord Hervey was, in truth, an
effeminate creature: too dainty to walk; too precious to commit his
frame to horseback; and prone to imitate the somewhat recluse habits
which German rulers introduced within the court: he was disposed to
candle-light pleasures and cockney diversions; to Marybone and the Mall,
and shrinking from the athletic and social recreations which, like so
much that was manly and English, were confined almost to the English
squire _pur et simple_ after the Hanoverian accession; when so much
degeneracy for a while obscured the English character, debased its tone,
enervated its best races, vilified its literature, corrupted its morals,
changed its costume, and degraded its architecture.
Beneath the effeminacy of the Maccaroni, Lord Hervey was one of the few
who united to intense _finery_ in every minute detail, an acute and
cultivated intellect. To perfect a Maccaroni it was in truth advisable,
if not essential, to unite some smattering of learning, a pretension to
wit, to his super-dandyism; to be the author of some personal squib, or
the translator of some classic. Queen Caroline was too cultivated
herself to suffer fools about her, and Lord Hervey was a man after her
own taste; as a courtier he was essentially a fine gentleman; and, more
than that, he could be the most delightful companion, the most sensible
adviser, and the most winning friend in the court.
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