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Sir John Lade, 2nd Baronet (1 August 1759 – 10 February 1838) was a prominent member of Regency society, notable as an owner and breeder of racehorses, as an accomplished driver, associated with Samuel Johnson's circle, and one of George IV's closest friends. At the time he caused some sensation both because of the extent of his debts and the scandal attached to his marriage to his wife Letitia, a woman who was generally supposed to have been previously the mistress of both the executed highwayman John Rann and the Prince Regent's brother, the Duke of York. ==Early life== He was born the posthumous child of the first Baronet, also named John. His mother was the sister of the brewer and MP Henry Thrale.〔John Debrett, ''The Baronetage of England'', 1824, p 178〕 He inherited from his father a vast fortune, also founded in brewing. According to Abraham Hayward, Samuel Johnson was consulted regularly on his upbringing; unfortunately Dr. Johnson had no very high opinion of the boy's intellect. His original advice to Henry's sister, Lady Lade, was "Endeavour, Madam, to procure him knowledge; for really ignorance to a rich man is like fat to a sick sheep, it only serves to call the rooks about him." However, as Lade grew up, Dr. Johnson found himself disappointed; so much so that Hester Thrale reports that when Sir John asked Johnson for advice on whether he should marry, the reply came as: "I would advise no man to marry, Sir," replied the Doctor in a very angry tone, "who is not likely to propagate understanding;" and so left the room.〔Abraham Hayward (ed.), ''Autobiography, Letters and Literary Remains of Mrs. Piozzi (Thrale) (2nd ed.) (2 vols.): Edited with notes and Introductory Account of her life and writings'', Longman Green and Roberts, London, 1861.〕 This did not stop Johnson, however, from proposing "half in earnest" a marriage between Sir John and Fanny Burney while the boy was still a minor.〔 On his attaining the age of twenty-one, he received control of his vast fortune. The event〔George Birkbeck Norman Hill, in his notes (p516, vol 4., Kessenger Publishing 2004) on Boswell's life of Johnson, notes that Dr. Johnson wrote to Hester Thrale on the occasion:"'You have heard in the papers how --- is come to age. I have enclosed a short song of congratulation which you must not shew to anybody. It is odd that it should come into anybody's head. I hope you will read it with candour; it is, I believe, one of the author's first essays in that way of writing, and a beginner is always to be treated with tenderness." Hill notes that it is Johnson's first attempt at candid satire.〕 moved Dr. Johnson to write his poem "One-and-twenty": which began: ''Long-expected one-and-twenty/Ling'ring year, at length is flown/Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty/Great Sir John, are now your own./ Loosen'd from the minor's tether,/Free to mortgage or to sell.Wild as wind, and light as feather/Bid the sons of thrift farewell.....Lavish of your grandsire's guineas/Show the spirit of an heir.''The poem, which ended with a – presumably satirical – reminder to "scorn the counsel" of "the guardian friend", proved both prophetic and influential; the former in anticipating Sir John's career, and the latter in influencing A.E. Housman's ''A Shropshire Lad''.〔Robert Wooster Stallman, ''Annotated Bibliography of A. E. Housman: A Critical Study'', PMLA, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Jun. 1945), p469. When first published, the last line read "Great my lad.." instead of "Great Sir John".〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Lade」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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