T. Lawrence, to Joseph Farington, the Earl of Lonsdale, Castle, Whitehaven

RA Collection: Archive

Reference code

LAW/1/198

Title

T. Lawrence, to Joseph Farington, the Earl of Lonsdale, Castle, Whitehaven

Date

7 Oct 1808

Level

Item

Extent & medium

1 piece

Content Description

Cadell and Davies have a new assistant thanks to Lysons; he discusses the circumstances leading to Robert Smirke securing the commission to rebuild Covent Garden Theatre, Lawrence assisted him, but found that Lysons had already spoken to Kemble; he exclaims that Wyatt applied for it; Leverton, a bad character, has sought employment from Smirke; Kemble, Harris and Smirke are pleased and the work goes well; Kemble called on the Duke of Northumberland after the fire and was presented with a £10,000 interest free loan, this was used to pay off a disadvantageous loan from Bob Heathcote; he quotes Hoppner, "every man is a scoundrel at thirty"; he discusses recent developments in Portugal, with reference to the actions of Wellesley; Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey have formed a "convenient arrangement" where they can "bask in the sunlight of their own genius".