Paterfamiliases and Materfamiliases rivalled each other in endeavouring
to make things pleasant in their households for his particular delectation,
especially if they had grown-up daughters; hospitable hosts invited him
to
dinner, fashionable matrons to balls; political leaders sought to
secure him as a partisan; _DEBUTANTES_ of the season endeavoured
to attract him as an admirer; _TRADESMEN THRONGED TO HIS
DOORSTEPS FOR HIS CUSTOM_, and his table was daily covered with
written applications for his patronage." _Noblesse oblige;_
and so does fashion. The aspirant had confessedly a hard time of
it. "He must be seen at Tattersall's as well as at Almack's; be
more frequent in attendance in the green-room of the theatre than
at a _levee_ in the palace; show as much readiness to enter
into a pigeon-match at Battersea Red House, as into a flirtation
in May Fair; distinguish himself in the hunting-field as much as
at the dinner-table; and make as effective an appearance in the
park as in the senate; in short, he must be everything--not by
turns, but all at once--sportsman, exquisite, gourmand,
rake, senator, and at least a dozen other variations of the man
of fashion,--his changes of character being often quicker than
those attempted by certain actors who nightly undertake the
performance of an entire _dramatis personae_." '
[133] It will be remembered that when Fox's debts were in
like manner estimated they amounted to L140,000: the
coincidence is curious. See ante.