Stanhope, Lady Hester

whose remarkable life in Mount Lebanon may be numbered among the most interesting romances of history, was born March 12, 1776. Her father was the celebrated lord Stanhope, and her mother a daughter of the great earl of Chatham; consequently she was niece to William Pitt, in whose house she resided, acting as his private secretary and sharing in all his confidences. Biographers are silent on the causes which influenced her fate after the death of her uncle, but they were principally two: First, the disgust of her high nature for European society, created by her knowledge of the secrets of diplomacy and the hollow, deceitful life of all around her; and, secondly, the mystic influence which prevailed for about ten years at that period, and of which history takes little note. It is certain, however, that from 1794 to the death of Pitt startling announcements were continually made by private letters to the minister, and prophecies were actually fulfilled both in England and France. It is probable that these circumstances, exaggerated by her unrestrained imagination and her longing for the free simplicity of nature, finally determined lady Stanhope to leave England. William Pitt having recommended his niece to the care of the nation, she received a pension of twelve hundred pounds per annum, with which, after his death, she commenced a life of great state in the East, and acquired immense influence over the Arabian population. Her manner of life and romantic style are well known; we will only add, therefore, that it is unfair to judge her character from the reports of English travelers, for she was one of those high souled women who not only refused allegiance to the empty mannerisms she had cast off, but was well able to answer every fool who forced his way into her presence according to his folly. She never married, but adopted the habit of an Arabian cavalier, and under those bright skies rode and dwelt where she pleased, virtually queen of the deserts and mistress of the ancient palaces of Zenobia. Her religion, which seems to have been sincere and profound, was compounded in about equal proportions out of the Koran and the Bible. She was regarded by the Arabs with superstitious reverence as a sort of prophetess. Her permanent abode was in Mount Lebanon, about eight miles from Sidon, where she died June 23, 1839. Her Memoirs (1845,3 vols.) and Seven Years' Travels (1846, 3 vols.) were published by her physician, Dr. Meryon. See Thomson, Land and Book, 1, 111.