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		george selwyn

		George Augustus Selwyn was a Wit and acknowledged leader of society. It was said that he divided the empire of the fashionable world with Lord Chesterfield. Selwyn was educated at Eton where he first met his lifelong friend Horace Walpole and the poet Gray. After being expelled in 1754, he lived in London and Paris, the latter giving him the opportunity to meet the elite of society. Thanks to his association with the infamous Madame du Deffand, he was noticed by the Queen of Louis XV, so as to give rise to a scandal. Letter A is from the blind Mme. du Deffand and written by her secretary Wiart. She speaks of the communion of Voltaire, a great friend of hers, and finishes by saying ..I wish to see you again but I do not hold out much hope; we are so cold, so indolent, that we must appear boring to those of your Nation, who are so accustomed to disorder and violence. This is all the more poignant as it was written just twenty one years before the start of the French Revolution. In 1754 Selwyn became Member of Parliament for the City of Gloucester, but hardly ever made a speech. He was known as an avid follower of executions and would travel widely to see one. The invitation B was written by the Duc d'Orléans, who was guillotined in 1793 with Marie-Antoinette. Letter C is from Lady Diana Beauclerk (née Spencer) who like her namesake, Diana Princess of Wales, was a stunning beauty and was usually referred to as Lady Di. It relates to her renting a house in Bath for him, which cost him five Guineas a week (£5.25 or US$7.35). The last letter D is by Sir Charles Bunbury who was described as 'the Prince and Father of the Turf'. For his own possible advancement or gain, he requests to know if Lord Carlisle was sending a Commission to America. The museum holds a series of forty-two letters to Selwyn, of which only two have been published, other than in the journal of the Manuscript Society of America.
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