edecorated by Cornichon in the most elegant taste; not a little to the
scandal of some of the steady old country dowagers; for I had pictures
of Boucher and Vanloo to decorate the principal apartments, in which the
Cupids and Venuses were painted in a manner so natural, that I recollect
the old wizened Countess of Frumpington pinning over the curtains of her
bed, and sending her daughter, Lady Blanche Whalebone, to sleep with her
waiting-woman, rather than allow her to lie in a chamber hung all over
with looking-glasses, after the exact fashion of the Queen's closet at
Versailles.

For many of these ornaments I was not so much answerable as Cornichon,
whom Lauraguais lent me, and who was the intendant of my buildings
during my absence abroad. I had given the man CARTE BLANCHE, and when he
fell down and broke his leg, as he was decorating a theatre in the room
which had been the old chapel of the castle, the people of the
country thought it was a judgment of Heaven upon him. In his rage for
improvement the fellow dared anything. Without my orders he cut down
an old rookery which was sacred in the country, and had a prophecy
regarding it, stating, 'When the rook-wood shall fall, down goes Hackton
Hall.' The rooks went over and colonised Tiptoff Woods, which lay near
us (and be hanged to them!), and Cornichon built a temple to Venus and
two lovely fountains on their site. Venuses and Cupids were the rascal's
adoration: he wanted to take down the Gothic screen and place Cupids in
our pew there; but old Doctor Huff the rector came out with a large oak
stick, and addressed the unlucky architect in Latin, of which he did not
comprehend a word, yet made him understand that he would break his
bones if he laid a single finger upon the sacred edifice. Cornichon
made complaints about the 'Abbe Huff,' as he called him. ('Et quel abbe,
grand Dieu!' added he, quite bewildered, 'un abbe avec douze enfans');
but I encouraged the Church in this respect, and bade Cornichon exert
his talents only in the castle.

There was a magnificent collection of ancient plate, to which I added
much of the most splendid modern kind; a cellar which, however well
furnished, required continual replenishing, and a kitchen which I
reformed altogether. My friend, Jack Wilkes, sent me down a cook from
the Mansion House, for the English cookery,--the turtle and venison
department: I had a CHEF (who called out the Englishman, by the way, and
complained sadly of