The hellfire club, p.5
The Hellfire Club, page 5
Dashwood was no coward and always stood ready to back anyone who seemed to be getting a raw deal. In 1757, a British fleet under the command of Admiral Byng was ordered into action against a far superior French fleet. The action took place off Minorca and the English were defeated. Byng managed to escape with the remnants of his fleet, but the public, who liked to feel that the English were invincible on the sea, were furious and demanded a scapegoat. Byng was selected by the government as the sacrifice and sentenced to die. Mobs paraded through the streets singing, “Swing, swing, great Admiral Byng!” and the king, George II, let it be known that he would take any attempt to defend the Admiral as a personal affront. Both Parliament and the nobility followed the lead of the king and the mob in denouncing the friendless Admiral. Almost the only exception was Dashwood. Dashwood was a member of Parliament, although he seldom bothered to attend sessions (it was understood that townships always sent their local lordling to Parliament to represent them), and he defied the hisses and boos of his fellow members as well as the King’s fury to defend Byng. He was denounced as a traitor, a friend of theFrench, and a dangerous radical, but he kept on. In spite of Dashwood’s efforts, Byng was shot. Voltaire sarcastically remarked that the unfortunate man had been executed “to encourage the other admirals.”
2
Since the monks of the Hell-Fire Club included many of the most outstanding men of the day, the club became so popular that two different categories of membershipwere created: Superior and Inferior. The Superior members were the Twelve Apostles and, of course, Sir Francis. There were many more Inferior members, but they were apparently not allowed to take part in the chapel ceremonies except on special occasions, although they were given free run of the abbey and the nuns. There may have been as many as forty or fifty Inferior members, and everyone was permitted to bring an occasional guest, either male or female. When one of the Superior members died or went mad, the Apostles selected his successor from the Inferiorgroup. There was keen competition for this honor, and there was a great deal of jealousy and resentment when the choice was made known.
Except in a few cases we don’t know with certainty who belonged to which group, as quite naturally the monks didn’t boast of their affiliation with the notorious Hell-Fire Club, and the club’s records were subsequently burned. In the following list, it has been taken for granted that the more active, prominent monks belonged to the Superior circle, although some may never have achieved that honor, and one or two may even have been virtual employees of Dashwood, hired to do the bookkeeping, arrange the banquets and bring in the girls.
Sir Francis Dashwood
Sir Francis, as well as being the founder, was the spirit and the head of the club. His pictures show that he was handsome as a young man, with dark, curly hair. He was well built, although inclined to be thick-set, and he was possessed of an eager, almost boyish enthusiasm which showed in his face. Horace Walpole says, “He was seldom sober but charmingly tolerant and frank.” John Wilkes says, “He was the only one [of the Superior group]… to show real gifts of imagination and true mental abilities.” Everyone, friend or enemy, agreed that he was honest and outspoken. They also agreed that he was an incurableexhibitionist. He was famous for his profanity in a time when no gentleman spoke without a collection of picturesque oaths. In the latter part of his life he became heavy with protruding eyes and dangling jowls. Unfortunately, most paintings of him were made during that period.
The Earl of Sandwich
Sandwich was Dashwood’s right-hand man, the executive-officer of the club. He was the most notorious rake of the day. He has been described as being “as mischievous as a monkey and as lecherous as a goat.” Another writer remarked: “No man ever carried the art of seduction to so enormous a height.” Sandwich specialized in seducing young girls, “the corruption of innocence being in itself my end,” he boasted. His relations with women were “extensive and peculiar.” He hired naked prostitutes to beat him across his bare bottom with whips to augment his flagging sexual drive. He was also called “the most universally disliked man in England.” He was an inveterate gambler, often playing for twenty-four hours at a stretch and refusing to leave the table. On one such occasion he ordered a waiter to put a slice of beef between two pieces of bread and bring it to him so he could eat while still playing—thus inventing the sandwich that still bears his name. It is curious that the name of this sex flend should have gone down in history connected to such an innocent article of diet.
Because of his title and through political influence, Sandwich was made First Lord of the Admiralty. The Sandwich Islands were discovered during his term of office and named after him. Curiously enough, in an age when most political appointees did absolutely nothing, especially if they were lords, Sandwich threw into the job the same savage energy he used in seducing schoolgirls, getting drunk, or celebrating the Black Mass. He arrived at the Admiralty office at six in the morning and worked until after dark, driving his subordinates as hard as he did himself. Then he’d spend the night at Mother Sulphur’s bagnio or with the nuns at Medmenham, returning refreshed to his governmental duties. Unfortunately, he accomplished nothing except to get the service into such a mess that it took years to restore its efficiency. TheEncyclopaedia Britannicadescribes his administration as “unique in the history of the British Navy for incapacity.” He had a tremendous driving energy coupled with absolutely no intelligence, except for a certain craftiness in injuring others. He was sent as a roving ambassador to several countries, but a special committee had to be formed to follow him and correct the diplomatic crises he created.
Sandwich is described by most of his contemporaries as a man so ugly as to be almost deformed, but his early portraits (he was a member of the Divan Club and was painted by Knapton in Turkish costume) show him as having almosteffeminate good looks. No doubt he changed as he grew older, due to the kind of life he led. He had at least one venereal infection that may have affected his brain. Even as a young man he was subject to nervous convulsions during which he lost control of his limbs.
Next to Dashwood, he was the most ardent antireligious member of the club. He once preached a sermon in a church to a congregation of cats. Like most of the rakes, he was desperately brave. He fought over twenty duels, usually with the husbands or fathers of his paramours, and was famous as a dead shot and an expert swordsman. One of his innumerable mistresses was Kitty Fisher, a famous courtesan of the time. Although Sandwich was keeping her (“acting as her protector” was the polite phrase of the period) Kitty was a gay girl and used to entertain other lovers without the Earl’s knowledge. Once he arrived at her apartment unexpectedly while Kitty was entertaining Lord Mountford, who was himself a notorious rakehell. When Mountford heard that the Earl was downstairs, he begged Kitty to let him hide under her hoop-skirts. Kitty refused and Mountford jumped out of the window rather than face Sandwich.
In addition to being antireligious, Sandwich was violently antidemocratic. He despised the general public and opposed any public figure who tried to get a better break for the common man. Sandwich was a member of a small group known as the “King’s Friends” who stood prepared tosupport the autocratic monarch on any issue whatsoever and override opposition to his wishes by the more liberal members of Parliament. Because of his friendshipwith the King and his control of the English Navy, Sandwich was one of the most important men of the time and exerted a profound influence on the destiny of the British Empire.
The Earl of Bute
Compared to the Earl of Bute, Sandwich was a rather lovable personality. Bute was another of the “King’s Friends” and was made Prime Minister, thus becoming the most powerful man in the nation. Although as great a rake as Sandwich, he had none of Sandwich’s dash and color. Thackeray says: “He was hated with a rage of which there have been few examples in English history.” He never dared to appear in public without a bodyguard of prizefighters, and even so was nearly killed by mobs on several occasions. He opposed every reform measure, destroyed the Whigs (the liberal party), and ruined William Pitt, England’s greatest statesman. He seduced the Princess Augusta (the wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales) and through her influence controlled the government even before he was made prime minister. Pitt spoke bitterly of “the secret influence more mighty than the throne itself which betrays and clogs every administration.” Because of his control over the Princess, Bute had a large hand in bringing upher son George (who later becameGeorge III). He frequently told the boy: “Remember that when you are king you must be ruthless.” George’s attempts to follow this advice resulted in the American Revolution. Bute himself hated the American colonists. He supported the Stamp Act, opposed Edmund Burke’s attempts to find a peaceful solution, and encouraged the King to use force against the American Colonies.
Bute’s rise to power came about in a way typical of the time. Frederick, Prince of Wales, had gone to the races at Egham, but the races were delayed because of rain. The royal party decided to play cards while waiting for the rain to stop, and the Prince sent his equerry to find someone who’d make a fourth at whist. The equerry came back with Bute. During the game, Bute told the Prince about the Hell-Fire Club, and Frederick, who was a notable rake, was delighted. Bute introduced him to the club and Frederick became a member—or if he did not actually join, he was given the run of the abbey and frequently attended the meetings. This introduction established Bute with the prince, who subsequently made him Lord of the Bedchamber, a peculiarly appropriate appointment, as Bute then proceeded to knock upFrederick’s wife, the Princess Augusta, a not too intelligent German girl. Frederick himself was about as futile an individual as ever breathed. His father (George II) referred to him as “The Booby,” and his mother once remarked that she wished he was in hell. Prince Fritz cordially returnedtheir feelings, openly hoping that his father would die so Frederick could inherit the throne, and writing spiteful fairy stories about a brutal king and his fat queen who wouldn’t give their noble son enough money. The prince, however, died first, and it was his son who inherited the throne as George III. George III made Bute prime minister as a reward for the Earl’s known attachment to his family.
Next to Dashwood and Sandwich, Bute was the most prominent member of the Hell-Fire Club. He never missed a meeting and went about getting drunk and fornicating in the simple, direct way he approached everything. He never seems to have shown much interest in either the Black Mass or the artistic side of the club. Probably he valued the organization for the satisfaction it provided his vices and the hold it gave him over the weak-minded Prince Fritz. Excepting George III, Bute was probably more responsible for the American Revolution than any other one man.
Paul Whitehead
Whitehead was the club secretary. It has been suggested that he was never a member, but was employed by Dashwood to keepthe organization running. At all events, he was an important figure.
Whitehead was the son of a small tradesman and had neither title nor money. When he was in his early twenties, he backed a bill for a friend who promptly absconded, andWhitehead was thrown into a debtor’s prison for several years. He had always had a talent for writing verse, and now he began to write rhyming political lampoons (very popular in those days) for anyone who would pay him. As the wealthy Tories were better able to afford such propaganda than the Whigs, most of Whitehead’s poems were directed against the Whigs, but he himself had democratic sympathies and often wrote poems attacking the King and the court on his own responsibility. He made enough to get out of prison and departed with the conviction that there was no justice in the world and that whatever happened, he was going to look after himself.
He supported himself by his political writings and made enough to do a little whoring and drinking on the side as well as to play elaborate practical jokes. The Freemason announced that they were going to stage a parade through London, and Whitehead dressed a collection of cripples, beggars, and prostitutes in Freemason robes and sent them ahead of the procession. Whitehead had an assistant in this elaborate masquerade—Henry Carey, who wrote “Sally in Our Alley” and the words to “God Save the King.” The prank amused the Hell-Fire Club and they sent for Whitehead. Whitehead instantly attached himself to Dashwood. He was shrewd enough to realize that the baronet was so surrounded by flatterers that he’d welcome some opposition, and so Whitehead always made a point of standing up toSir Francis and only allowing himself to be persuaded that his patron was right after a long argument. He wrote a rhymed pamphlet in praise of immortality which he arranged to have attributed to Dashwood. The pamphlet made a big hit and Dashwood was delighted, but honest enough to deny that he was the author. However, Whitehead explained to the baronet that he’d only written down Sir Francis’ witty sayings when he was drunk and the baronet accepted this explanation and acknowledged authorship of the best seller.
Whitehead was older than most of the other members (they called him “Old Paul”) and in addition to ordering the meals, seeing that the nuns got in and out, and running the servants, he also acted as sexton during the Black Mass ceremonies, reminding the Abbot what to do next and handing him the proper texts. Whitehead composed most of the blasphemous hymns sung and was referred to as “the Atheist Chaplain” of the club. He kept the club’s accounts, and Churchill, a member who was one of the most popular poets of his day, wrote:
“Whilst Womanhood in habit of a nun
At Mednam lies, by backward monks undone;
A nation’s reckoning like an alehouse score,
Which Paul the Aged chalks behind the door.”
Whitehead finally established himself financially by marrying a crippled, half-witted girl whose parents were willing to pay anyone 10,000 pounds to take her off their hands. Whitehead’s associates naturally expected him to abandon the girl after he’d gotten her money, but he was always very good to her, making sure that she was comfortable and happy before going off for an evening with the nuns at the abbey. Sometimes he even took her along so she wouldn’t be lonely. One evening during a sparkling interchange of wit between such brilliant talkers as Wilkes, Selwyn, Potter, and Churchill, the poor girl tried to join in the conversation by saying, “Oh gentlemen, I saw a cow today!” Whitehead, instead of trying to shut her up, instantly asked her to tell them more about the cow and, the rakes gravely listened while the pathetic little moron recounted her remarkable experience.
It’s been said that Whitehead had more to do with keepingthe club running than anyone, even Dashwood. If Dashwood was the soul of the organization, Whitehead was the brains and backbone. Whitehead was deeply attached to both Dashwood and the club. He willed Dashwood his heart after death, and his last act was to burn the club’s records. Robert Lloyd, one of the brotherhood, called him “learned in lechery, a sedulous and patient seducer and a veritable troubadour of blasphemy.”
Charles Churchill
Although few people read Churchill’s poetry today, he was regarded by his contemporaries as one of England’s greatest poets. Like Whitehead, he specialized in political satire, which was then highly regarded, but his allusions are too topical to be of interest now. The British Navy thought so highly of his work that flags were ordered lowered to half-mast the day he died.
Churchill (no relation to Sir Winston Churchill) was the son of a clergyman and was himself a priest in the Church of England. He was an enormously powerful man with abnormally thick arms and legs. An expert boxer, the club called him “The Bruiser” and Hogarth caricatured him as a grotesque bear. At the age of eighteen he had defied his family by marrying a street girl, by whom he had two children. His father insisted that he enter holy orders and as the boy was completely dependent on his family for support, he was forced to obey, although he hated the church and was an avowed atheist. Later he deserted his wife and children.
Like most of the brothers, Churchill was a curious mixture-of the sentimental and the brutal. He fought for the debtors in Fleet Prison and started a home for destitute prostitutes, while at the same time, as Dashwood remarked, “peopling the house with young girls whom he had seduced.” Although a clergyman, he was as big a rake as theothers. Wilkes once wrote him, “Don’t fail to make yourself known to Effie when in Tunbridge Wells. Mention my name and you will find her both pliant and pliable. She is gifted with a capacity for translating the language of love into a rich, libidinous, and ribald phraseology.” Churchill was an ardent liberal and led the campaign against Bute, Sandwich, and the King in defense of the American colonists. He is described as being both remarkably good-natured and a bully. Once, while conducting a funeral service, he was jeered at by a man in the congregation who had seen him drunk with some girls the night before. Churchill peeled off his clergyman’s coat, jumped out of the pulpit and beat the man into a pulp. One evening at the abbey, he got into a violent row with Whitehead as to who would have first go at one of the girls and, the men eventually became deadly enemies. Later he wrote:
“May I (can worse disgrace on manhood fall)
Be born a Whitehead and baptised a Paul?”
On the other hand, several men (notably John Wilkes and Robert Lloyd) were deeply attached to him, and he was spoken of as a true friend who would never let you down. As a democratic gesture, he always drank beer instead of wine, and insisted on consorting with the lowest type of prostitutes rather than fashionable ladies although he couldhave had his pick. Like many rakes, he suffered from a venereal disease. (He wrote Wilkes: “What I imagined to be St. Anthony’s Fire has turned out to be St. Cytherea’s.”) He was cordially hated by the government because of his liberal tendencies and political satires.
