Chapter V (2)

“I hope Mrs. Fortescue[335] liked the Indian paper; it is new and uncommon, and I thought much prettier than any I could get at a moderate price. I beg my respects to her and my dear Miss Lyttelton.[336] I hear there will be a turnpike road between Oxford and Newbury, and I hope you will frequently make use of it. I shall leave Tunbridge on Monday. I have enjoyed perfect health here, and the society of some of my best friends, so you may believe I have passed the season very happily, but a happy life seems always a short one. Mrs. Carter was so good as to give me her company in my house. My Lord Lyttelton and my Lord Bath were often with us; having had their characters continually before me, you will not wonder I should think great acquirements as well as great talents necessary to make all possible perfection. I am sure you will be pleased to hear that my Lord Bath greatly approves and admires that part of my Lord Lyttelton’s history which is already printed. I believe there is not any one living whose approbation would give Lord Lyttelton so much pleasure; talents and virtues and extensive knowledge all in the highest degree join to make him a perfect judge, and his great reputation gives him a decisive authority; your Father is proud of his praise as a critick, and pleased with it on motives of friendship, which touch his heart more nearly than any where vanity has a part, tho’ he is an author and a poet. His Lordship’s Muse met him in the shades of Penshurst, and with love or flattery prompted two charming pieces, one to Mrs. Carter, and one to my Lord Bath. Mrs. Carter, Dr. Monsey and Mr. Montagu desire their compliments to you.

“I am, dear Sir,
“Your most sincere and affectionate friend
and obedient humble Servant,
“E. MONTAGU.”

[335] Mr. Lyttelton’s grandmother.

[336] His sister.

[Page heading: A BLOOM-COLOURED COAT]

Dr. Monsey, who had recovered from a severe illness, had joined the party at Tunbridge, and had appeared in a new bloom-coloured coat, to the amusement of the Montagu circle, who chaffed him upon it.

On August 22 Mr. Charles Morton wrote to Mrs. Montagu the following:--

“MADAM,

“As I conceive the following article which I have just received in a letter from Paris, to relate to the Countess of Pomfret,[337] I thought it might be agreeable to you to acquaint Her Ladyship therewith.

“‘Monsʳ Bejot, who, since the death of the Abbé Sallier, has care of the manuscripts in the King’s Library, is a most worthy and obliging gentleman; he has promised me to have copies drawn of the curious Cuts in the beautiful Manuscript of Froissard’s Chronicle, for an English lady, a great friend to Oxford.’ This letter is dated Paris, August 1st; the writer is the Butler who travels with Mr. Howard, nephew to the Duke of Norfolk. I am much obliged to you for the Highland Poems; and have the honour to remain, Madam,

“Your most obliged and most humble servant,
“CHARLES MORTON.

“Museum, August 22, 1761.”

[337] Lady Pomfret, widow of the 1st Earl Pomfret, had in 1755
presented the University of Oxford with a portion of the Arundel
marbles which had been purchased by her husband’s father. She was
the daughter of the second and last Baron Jeffreys, of Wem. She had
been Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline.

[Page heading: DR. YOUNG]

Mrs. Montagu quitted Tunbridge Wells on August 30. On September 2 she wrote to Mrs. Carter--

“I found on my table a poem on ‘Resignation’[338] by Dr. Young; he sent me a copy for you which I will send by the Deal coach.... You will be pleased I think with what he says of Voltaire, you know we exhorted him to attack a character whose authority is so pernicious. In vain do Moralists attack the shadowy forms of Vice while the living Temples of it are revered and admired.”

[338] “Resignation” was written with a view of consolation for Mrs.
Boscawen on her husband’s death.

Dr. Young writes on September 2--

“Dear MADAM,

“I was in too much haste and ordered a thing to be sent to you (which I suppose you have received) before I had read it myself. On reading it, I find my distance from the Press has occasioned many errors; so that in some parts I have had the impudence to present you with perfect nonsense.

“Page 18, Stanza 2nd, should be thus (viz.)--

“‘Earth, a cast Mistress _then_ disgusts, etc.’

“Page 34: It should be thus (viz.)--

“‘Receive the triple prize, etc.’

“Pray pardon this trouble from, dear Madam,

“Your much obliged and most obedient
“H. Servant,
“E. YOUNG.

“P.S.--I know not how to direct the enclosed, excuse my insolence in desiring you to do it for me.”

[Page heading: LORD BATH’S PORTRAIT]

_Sir J. Reynolds P.R.A. Pinx._ _Emery Walker Ph.Sc._

_William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath_]

Lord Bath was having his picture (now in the National Portrait Gallery) painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds for Mrs. Montagu. He left London for Ives Place, and writes--

“I shall be in town again in a few days, but not till after the Queen’s arrival, for I have had the opportunity of making my excuses, in the proper place, for not attending the marriage ceremony. You will judge of the likeness of the Picture best, when I am not present, if it could speak, it would tell you, what I can scarce venture to do. How much I love and am, etc.”

[Page heading: THE CORONATION]

Mrs. Montagu went to London for the coronation, which took place September 22, leaving Mr. Montagu at Sandleford. She writes to him--

“I have not got any cold or mischief from the coronation, at half an hour after four I got into the coach, went by Fulham to Lambeth, from whence I crossed the water in a boat which landed me at the cofferer’s office, where I was to see the Show. I had a perfect view of the procession to and from Westminster to the Abbey, and I must say it rather exceeded my expectation. The ladies made a glorious appearance; whenever there was any beauty of countenance or shape or air they were all heightened by the dress. Lady Talbot was a fine figure. The Queen, being very little, did not appear to advantage. The King had all the impressions of decent satisfaction and good-natured joy in his face; looked about him with great complacency, and tried to make himself as visible as he could to the mob, but the canopy carried over his Majesty’s head and the persons who carried his train made him not so conspicuous. His behaviour at the Abbey pleased much. It was perfectly dark before the Procession returned from the Abbey, so we lost the second view. I got into a barge which I hired for 7_s._ 6_d._, and got to the coach which waited at Yorke buildings. Mr. Botham and his daughters are just gone. Lord Lyttelton was near fainting away just as the procession set out from the Hall, and was obliged to sit down and take drops till a chair could be got to carry him home. Lady Albemarle fainted presently after. Lord Grantham was ill, but able to go thro’ the ceremony.

“The early hour the Peers and Peeresses are forced to rise at and the weight of their robes and all the whole affair is fatiguing, but they make a good figure, for there is something very majestick in the dress.

“I believe my Lord Bath will come down to us about Wednesday or perhaps Tuesday. I shall be at Sandleford on Monday.”

[Page heading: HIS MAJESTY’S BEHAVIOUR]

In another letter describing the coronation to Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Montagu says--

“It is impossible to say enough of the behaviour of the King. During the procession his countenance expressed a benevolent joy in the vast concourse of people and their loud acclamations, but with not the least air of pride or insolent exultation. In the religious offices his Majesty behaved with the greatest reverence and deepest attention; he pronounced with earnest solemnity his engagements to his people, and when he was to receive the Sacrament he pulled off his crown. How happy that in the day of the greatest worldly pomp and adorned with the ensigns of regal power he should remember his duty to the King of Kings. The Archbishop pleased much in the Coronation Service. I am indeed grieved at the heart for Mrs. Chapone:[339] all calamities are light in comparison of the loss of what one loves, uniquement; after that dear object is lost the glories of the golden day are for ever overcast, and there is no tranquillity under the silent moon, the soft and quiet pleasures are over, business may employ and diversions amuse the mind, but the _soul’s calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy_ can never be regained. Mrs. Chapone has great virtues, and if she has the Martyr’s sufferings will have the martyr’s reward.”

[339] _Née_ Hester Mulso, a friend of Mr. S. Richardson’s, and
authoress of “Letters on the Improvement of the Mind”; born 1727,
died 1801.

[Page heading: LADY POMFRET]

The following letter is from Lady Pomfret:--

“Richmond Hill, October 4, 1761.

“DEAR MADAM,

“The reason you give for my being deprived of the pleasure of a visit from you before you left London doubles the mortification. I was in hope Tunbridge had established your Health. The return of my fever (which has left me but a few daies) was the cause that I made no attempt to wait on you, the week you stayed after the Coronation, and when I did found you had been gone the day before; but soon after, Froissart and your letter informed me that your goodness to me subsisted, in all the bustle of magnificence and oppression of sickness, since you found time to read my old Chronicle with my Lord Lyttelton, to whom, and to you, I know not how to express my gratitude enough, but I really feel a great deal.

“Your criticism delights me, as it was always my opinion that such words as you mention ought to be changed for more intelligible ones, and that it might be done, with propriety, without altering the idiom, but I was so charged not to deviate from the old language that, till I had such authorities as you and my Lord Lyttelton, I did not dare to follow my own judgment, but shall now with alacrity go about it, being very happy in your approbation of the rest of the book, which I hope will be finish’d before the meeting of the Parliament, and that I shall have the assistance of such friends for the perfecting of it. Your partiality to me, dear Madam, is very flattering; but let Mrs. Montagu know that if I ever was or am proud of my discerning faculty ’tis because I see her in her true light; of brightness with modesty, Reason without Vanity, and a thorough knowledge of this and the next world as far as is permitted to mortals; this I might have heard, but I glory that I see it. I need not add what must be the consequence; that

“I am, Madam,
“Your sincere admirer: and
“Most faithful Humᵉ servᵗ,
“J. POMFRET.

“Lady Sophia Carteret and Mrs. Shelley beg
your acceptance of their best respects.”

Lady Pomfret died on December 16, 1761, at Marlborough, Wilts.

[Page heading: LORD LYTTELTON’S LETTER]

On October 5 Lord Lyttelton writes to Mrs. Montagu from Hagley a long letter, an extract of which I give--

“Tom proposes to give a ball to some young people of the neighbourhood on this day sennight, which will add to our number and our jollity. He desires me to tell you that if you were within twenty miles of our Ball-room he would invite you to it among the handsome _young_ women; which you may notify to the cynic Monsey, when he talks to you next of the _horrid gulph of forty_, and bid him hold his fool’s tongue. I believe you fib about your age and make yourself at least ten years older than you are, to be nearer to Lord Bath. I hope you have been, and are still as happy with him at Sandleford as your heart can desire. You will not think it a compliment to either of you when I say, that I would be glad to exchange all the mirth of our ball for the dullest of your evenings; but I will add in great truth, that I would give up the finest day in Hagley Park for a rainy one in your company. I had a letter last post from the Dean,[340] in which he says, ‘Your Lordship must not be surprised if you hear in a post or two of Mr. Secretary Pitt’s and Lord Temple’s being out of their employments. Unless something extraordinary happens, this event will certainly take place in a few days. I have this intelligence not from common report, but from the best authority. The reason given for their resignation is the opposition made in the Cabinet to Mr. Pitt’s proposal of sending a fleet immediately to intercept the Spanish Flota daily expected home, and likewise to attack their men-of-war wherever they are to be found, but your Lordship knows there are other causes of discontent.’ If this should be true, I imagine Lord Egremont[341] will be Secretary of State and Lord Hardwick[342] Privy Seal. Mr. James Grenville will probably lay down with his brother, which will make a vacancy at the Cofferer’s Office, one of the few I might take if there was an inclination to bring me into employment. I wish much to know Lord Bath’s opinion of Pitt’s advice. To me it seems to be that of a man who (in a political sense) _fears neither God nor man_. It certainly must be founded upon a supposition that a war with Spain is inevitable, which I should hope is not true; and even in that case I think England ought to be very cautious not to appear the aggressor, which this conduct would make her. But I had rather hear his Lordship’s judgment upon this question than give my own.”

[340] Charles Lyttelton, Dean of Carlisle.

[341] Charles, 2nd Earl of Egremont, born 1710, died 1763.

[342] Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwick, born 1690, died 1764.

[Page heading: LORD BATH’S JOURNEY]

[Page heading: THE POSITION OF MINISTERS]

Lord Bath had left Sandleford before this letter arrived there.

On October 8 he writes--

“I can never sufficiently, Madam, acknowledge my great obligations to you and to Mr. Montagu for the honours I received at Sandleford. Six more agreeable days I never passed in my whole Life, but when one has been excessively happy we always pay most severely for the change, when forced to quit it. This made the Doctor’s[343] journey and mine most excessively stupid and melancholy. He was seized with such a soporifick Torpor (as if a deluge of rain was hanging in the clouds), and yet we had not a drop the whole way, and I was so wretchedly miserable, that all I could say to him was, ‘Doctor, I passed over this same ground yesterday from coming from Padworth much more cheerfully and happily than I do now, but one comfort is that we are allowed the liberty of hoping for a renewal of the same happiness some other time.’ When we got to Reading, where we stopped for 10 or 12 minutes (without getting out of our chaize), our landlady seeing we looked melancholy, endeavoured to comfort us by telling us a piece of good news, that an express was just arrived with an account of a complete victory obtained by the King of Prussia over the Russians. On this we speculated and ruminated for some time, when we met Mr. Cambridge, who assured us it was all a lye, but that another event had occurred which would surprize us extremely, and then told us Mr. Pitt[344] had quitted the seals; this astonished the Doctor more than it did me, who had received some hint of it before, but we both agreed it was a very unlucky time for adventuring on such rough measures, so near the Meeting of Parliament, and before anything was fixed for the obtaining of peace, or preparing for a further prosecution of the War; in short, we ended in wishing all Ministers at the Devil, rather than that their disagreements and dissentions amongst one another should bring any difficulties or dishonour on the best man in the world, the master of all of them.... I will make this reflection upon all human happiness, that the state and duration of it is extremely uncertain. A minister may be a very great and think himself a very happy man one day, and nothing at all the very next. Just so was I, Madam, happy beyond measure a few days ago, and now forced at a terrible distance to be assuring you that I am, with all possible respect,

“Your Ladyship’s most humble
and most obedient Servant,
“BATH.”

[343] Dr. Monsey.

[344] Mr. Pitt resigned the Seals on October 5, 1761.

Lord Lyttelton writes on October 14 to Mrs. Montagu--

“Since my last, Mr. Pitt has brought his bark into a happy port. A Barony for his wife and a pension of £3000 a year for three lives are agreeable circumstances in a retreat, which delivers him from the difficulty of carrying on the War, or making the Peace, and keeps all his laurels green and unfading on his brow. No Minister in this country has ever known so well the times and seasons of going in and coming out with advantage to himself. I hope there will be new gold boxes sent to him by the cities and Boroughs to express their sense of his noble and _disinterested_ conduct, and to assure him that their lives and fortunes are all at his service. In effect, I hear that all over this country since first we had the news of his resigning the Seals, the cry of the people in Taverns and Alehouses is, ‘No Pitt, no King.’ However, I imagine that as he has condescended to accept of this mark of royal favour, he will be so good as to allow the King to remain on the throne.”

[Page heading: AN ACT OF HUMILITY]

On the same day as this last letter Dr. Monsey writes from St. James’s to Mrs. Montagu. This paragraph is interesting--

“But here’s a Rout about giving a patriot 3_s._ 6_d._ for his past services either for speaking to the purpose, or holding his tongue for a very good one. Why, he might have been Governor-General of all North America with a pension of £5000. This was confidently said at the ‘Mount’ Coffee House as offered by the King, and was told by Manby as coming from P----, _no joke indeed_, no more than he has advertised seven good horses, ‘_late Mr. Pitt’s_,’ to be sold. There’s an act of humility for you.”

Miss Mary Pitt, Mr. Pitt’s sister, writes to Mrs. Montagu--

“DEAR MADAM,

“Tho’ I suppose you know all that has happened since last Monday, I cannot forbear talking to you upon what the King has been so very gracious as to do for my family, in granting a pension of three thousand pounds a year to Mr. Pitt for three lives, and as he knows that he feels a repugnancy to having his name upon the Irish pensions, his is upon the American Duties, and the Peerage which his Majesty has also done him the honour to bestow upon his family is given to Lady Hester,[345] who is made Baroness of Chatham, by which means he is left still at liberty to be an Alderman; as to all the rest, which you may know, I will do _comme si vous ne saviez pas_. My Lord Egremont received the Seals of Secretary of State yesterday, my Lord Temple gave up his seals yesterday, and I was informed last night that my Lord Hardwick was to be Privy Seal, which I do not doubt, tho’ it is not declared. Mr. George Grenville is not to be Speaker, that he may have the management of the House of Commons. My Lord Temple is very angry with him, and I believe very much disappointed; at the same time I am assured that my Lord Bristol writes in the strongest manner everything that can give satisfaction to the present Ministry with regard to the intentions of the Spanish Court, and those despatches are said to have come Wednesday last.... I heard a few days ago from Paris that the Duc de Nivernois[346] had got a passport for my nephew.” This was for Mr. Tom Pitt.

[345] Lady Hester’s patent made out on December 4, 1761.

[346] French ambassador and writer.

At this period Dr. Gregory lost his wife, and was in great despair; she was a daughter of William, Lord Forbes.

[Page heading: WIDOWS’ WEEDS]

At the end of October Mrs. Montagu set out on a short visit to her sister, Mrs. Scott, and Lady Bab Montagu at Bath Easton. Dr. Monsey was then at Bath, whither later Mrs. Montagu also repaired. Bath society was enthusiastic upon the subject of Mr. Pitt and a political letter he wrote at this period. From a letter written from Bath to Mrs. Carter about a Mrs. Talbot, a reduced lady, who was an applicant for a lady’s-maid situation, we learn that £10 per annum were regarded as adequate wages for such an attendant. I subjoin a curious paragraph as to a widow’s dress--

“The fashionable dress for a widow is a gown with two broad plaits in the back, a short cuff which comes a little below the elbow, round double ruffles very shallow. The dress weed is made of silk made on purpose, undress crape, a black silk long apron, black handkerchief, black hood, and a plain sort of night-cap. Either a night-gown or sack may be worn with a short train, no flounce or ornament of any sort, and if a sack scanty, and only two broad plaits. Many women of condition who are not young, wear merely a common crape sack, the younger sort wear the dress that denotes their widowhood, and in a country town I should suppose the full form must be observed. I imagine your enquiry is for poor Mrs. Primrose.”

[Page heading: A CALL FOR POETRY]

On November 17 Mrs. Montagu writes from Hill Street to Mrs. Carter--

“MY DEAR FRIEND,

“I had this day the pleasure of receiving my dear Friend’s most charming ode. I, alas! am like Monsr. Jourdain, I speak nothing but prose, but I believe my heart feels with all the enthusiasm of poetry.... My Lord Bath is vastly happy that you are to be in town the 1st of January. My Lord Lyttelton is better, but his fever is not quite gone.... I think you should print the verses my Lord Lyttelton addressed to you from Penshurst. Pray write some more odes, and let your seamstresses do your plain work, and the Clerk transcribe your verses.”

This year an edition of Mrs. Carter’s various works was printed. When Mrs. Carter was in London she lodged with Mrs. Norman in Clarges Street. Mrs. Montagu having ascertained that she could have her lodgings there from the 1st of January, adds--

“You do not deign to mention Fingal, etc., but that I could pardon, for Poet Ossian has been dead full many a day, but there is a head on which laurels now grow, and it bears more than Parnassian bays, even wreaths of sacred Virtue, and this head is apt to ake, and then my heart akes for sympathy. Poor Lady Pomfret by weary stages reached Marlborough, from thence she yesterday morning quitted the weary journey of human life and passed with resignation to a better. I am angry with Dr. James for sending her in so hopeless a state from her quiet home to the noise and inconvenience of Inns.... I think Mr. Rivington must be bewitched. I will send the books as you direct. I had a quadrille table last night; and last week the Bard Macpherson and many others of the tuneful train and we had the feast of shells and drank out of a nautilus to the immortal memory of Ossian. The Nautilus, you know, is a perfect sailor as the other is a poet by nature. I am a little mortified that you had not a word to fling at Ossian. Take a modern Poet Laureate and put out his eyes and see whether he will sing as sweetly, tho’ he sings darkling.”

[Page heading: THE _BAS-BLEUS_ AND SHELLS]

The _bas-bleus_ from this time constantly celebrated, amongst their _intimates_, the feast of shells mentioned in Ossian by drinking out of them on any particular occasion.

Lord Bath’s portrait, not satisfying Mrs. Montagu, had been returned to Mr. Reynolds for amendment, and Lord Bath writes--

“MADAM,

“I will sitt to Mr. Reynolds either Wenesday or Saturday next, whichever is most convenient to him, and shall be glad to meet Mr. Tristram Shandy (as you call him) or Mr. Sterne (as I must call him) there, but where it is to be you do not mention. If the alteration can be made in a quarter of an hour, it is scarce worth taking the Picture out of your house, but if it is to be altered at Mr. Reynolds’ I will be there on either of the days mentioned. Last night I slept extreamely well and the better since I went from Mrs. Vesey’s, happy in seeing you look so charmingly and well....

“3 a clock, Dec. 26th, 1761.”

[Page heading: LAURENCE STERNE]

Lord Bath had remarkably penetrating and brilliant eyes, and one of the faults found with the picture was in the representation of this feature.

The next letter from Lord Bath runs--

“How cruel was it, before I got out of bed, to receive a letter forbidding me coming to you this night! but I hope nothing will prevent me from having that happiness to-morrow. On Wenesday about one of the Clock, I will most certainly be at Mr. Reynolds’ to mend my sickly looks, and to sitt down in my chair, as I should do; instead of being half standing, which criticism of Mr. Sterne’s I think perfectly right; as for my looks, I fear they will not be much mended by any Physick of Mr. Reynolds. He has made an old man look as if he was in pain, which an old man generally is, and so far he is right.”

Mrs. Montagu took Mr. Sterne to the sittings so that he might amuse Lord Bath with his _bons mots_! Surely this would form a pretty and historical picture if any artist would paint it.

On the publication of her poems, to which Mrs. Carter looked forward in a nervous frame of mind, Mrs. Montagu says--

“I am sorry for your tremors and trepidations, but they are mere nervous disorders, and the manuscript must be printed, so my dear Urania, away with your lamentations, sit down, revise, correct, augment, print, and publish. I am sure you will have a pleasure in communicating the pious, virtuous sentiments that breathe in all your verses. My inferior Soul will feel a joy in your producing such proofs of genius to the world.... The very best of your poetical productions have never been published, they may indeed have been seen by a few in manuscripts, but the finest things on sheets are soon lost--

‘Foliis tantum ne carmina manda;
Ne turbata volent rapidis ludibria Ventis.’

Print them and bind them fast I beg you.”

Writing to her brother, William Robinson, then at Rome, at this period, Mrs. Montagu congratulates him on the prospect of a son or daughter--

“I desire to have all the share I can in the little one, shall be happy to be accepted as a godmother, and thank you for being so obliging as to intend it my name if it is a girl; it will not disgrace her if she should be a toast, for I once knew a Miss Betty Robinson that set up for one; if it is not disagreeable to you I should be glad if it was christened Elizabeth Montagu, which will be also a compliment to my husband. I envy you, my dear brother, the pleasure of seeing at your leisure the Queen of Cities, Imperial Rome.”

[Page heading: STERNE GOES ABROAD]

[Page heading: STERNE’S “MEMORANDUMS”]

The Rev. Laurence Sterne had been in bad health for some time; he had just completed his fifth and sixth volumes of “Tristram Shandy,” and with permission from the Archbishop of York for absence for a year or more, he left Coxwould for the South of France, leaving the following paper with Mrs. Montagu, who, it will be remembered, was his cousin by marriage.

“December 28, 1761.

“Memorandums left with Mrs. Montagu in case I should
die abroad.

“L. STERNE.

“My sermons in a trunk at my friend Mr. Hall’s, St. John’s Street, 2 Vols. to be picked out of them.--N.B. There are enough for 3 Vols.--

“My Letters in my bureau at Coxwould and a bundle in a trunk with my sermons.--

“Note. The large piles of letters in the garrets at York, to be sifted over, in search for some either of Wit, or Humour--or what is better than both--of Humanity and good Nature--these will make a couple of Volumes _more_, and as not one of ’em was ever wrote, like Pope’s or Voiture’s, to be printed, they are more likely to be read--if there wants ought to serve the completion of a 3rd volume--the Political Romance I wrote, which was never publish’d--may be added to the fag end of the volumes.... Tho’ I have 2 reasons why I wish it may not be wanted--first an undeserved compliment to one, whom I have since found to be a very corrupt man--I knew him weak and ignorant--but thought him honest. The other reason is I have hung up Dr. Topham in the romance in a ridiculous light--which upon my soul I now doubt whether he deserves it--so let the Romance go to sleep not by itself--for ’twil have company.

“My _Conscio ad Clinum_ in Latin which I made for Fountayne, to preach before the University to enable him to take his Doctor’s Degree--you will find 2 copies of it, with my sermons--

“--He got Honour by it--What got I?--Nothing in my lifetime, then let me not (I charge you Mrs. Sterne) be robbed of it after my death. That long pathetic letter to him of the hard measure I have received--I charge you, to let it be printed--’Tis equitable you should derive that good from my sufferings at least.

“I have made my will--but I leave all I have to you and my Lydia--you will not Quarrel about it--but I advise you to sell my estate, which will bring 1800 pds. (or more after the year), and what you can raise from my Works--and the sale of the last copyright of the 5th and 6th Vols. of Tristram--and the produce of this last work, all of which I have left (except 50 pds. in my bookseller Becket’s hands, and which Mr. Garrick will receive and lay out in stocks for me)--all these I would advise you to collect--together with the sale of my library, &c., &c.--and lay it out in Government Securities--If my Lydia should marry--I charge you,--I charge you over again (that you may remember it the more)--That upon no Delusive prospect, or promise from any one, you leave yourself DEPENDENT; reserve enough for your comfort--or let her wait your Death. I leave this in the hands of our Cosin Mrs. Montagu--not because she is our cosin--but because I am sure she has a good heart.

“We shall meet again.

“--Memᵈᵘᵐ. Whenever I die--’tis most probable, I shall have about £200 due to me from my living--If Lydia should dye before you; Leave my Sister something worthy of your self--in case you do not think it meet to purchase an annuity for your greater comfort; if you chuse that--do it in God’s name--

“--The pictures of the Mountebank and his Macaroni--is in a Lady’s hands, who upon seeing ’em most cavaliery declared she would never part with them--and from an excess of civility--or rather weakness I could not summon up severity to demand them.

“--If I dye, her Name, &c., is inclosed in a billet seal’d up and given with this--and then you must demand them--If refused--you have nothing to do but send a 2d. message importing--’tis not for her Interest to keep them.

“LAURENCE STERNE.

“Memorandums left by Mr. Sterne in
Mrs. Montagu’s hands before he
left England.”

[Page heading: TWO TEARDROPS]

Two teardrops are on this paper, which indicate Sterne’s emotional temperament.

_Sir J. Reynolds, pinx._ _E. Fisher. sc._

_Laurence Sterne._

Walker & Cockerell, ph. sc.]

[Page heading: FINIS]

And now, patient reader, I, the Editress of this literary mosaic of my great-great-aunt’s letters and those of her friends, take leave of you. If life and eyesight are vouchsafed to me, I hope to write the remainder of her life some day, for she lived till 1800. Each year added to her enormous circle of clever acquaintance, British and foreign. The letters of Garrick and his wife, later ones of Sterne and Dr. Johnson, Mrs. Vesey, Edmund Burke, Hannah More, and a host of other notabilities, belong to a different period. As it is, the compilation of this work has occupied me five years. One whole winter was devoted to arranging the correspondence in chronological order, as very few of the letters are dated.

APPENDICES.

“LONG” SIR THOMAS ROBINSON.

Sir Thomas was the eldest of the seven sons of William Robinson, of Rokeby, Yorkshire, by his wife, _née_ Anne Walters. He was born and baptized at Rokeby in 1700. After his school-days he made the grand tour, as was the fashion of the day, and then entered the Army. At the death of his father in 1719, he succeeded to the family estates in Yorkshire. At the General Election of 1727 he became M.P. for Morpeth. On October 25, 1728, he was married at Belfreys, in Yorkshire, to Elizabeth, widow of Nicholas, Lord Lechmere, and daughter of Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle. Between the years 1725 and 1730 he rebuilt the house at Rokeby, removed the church which stood behind the house and rebuilt it in another spot, he added a stone wall all round the park, made a bridge over the Greta river, and erected an obelisk to his mother’s memory in 1730. All these acts were recorded on two stone piers at the Greta entrance of the park. He planted many trees at Rokeby. He designed the west wing of Castle Howard for his brother-in-law, Lord Carlisle. In 1731 he was made a Baronet of England, with remainder to his brothers. His nickname of “Long” Sir Thomas Robinson was given to him from his great height, and to distinguish him from another Sir Thomas Robinson, a diplomat of note, afterwards created Lord Grantham. These two men were the reverse of each other in appearance, “Long” Sir Thomas being exceptionally tall, and the other very short and fat. One of Lady Townshend’s _bon mots_ about the two was, “Why one should be preferred to the other I can’t imagine, there is but little difference, the one is as broad as the other is long;” and Lord Chesterfield, on being told “Long” Sir Thomas was reported to be “dying by inches,” said, then it would be some time before he was dead. On April 10, 1739, his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, died at Bath, and was taken to Rokeby and buried under the new church he had erected. A monument was erected to her there. In accordance with Sir Thomas’s will, though he himself was buried at Merton Abbey, Surrey, a cenotaph was placed in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, to his and his wife’s memory, with medallion portraits of her and himself, and bearing the following inscription:--“To perpetuate his grateful sense of the pleasure he had in the conversation of an accomplished woman, a sincere friend, and an agreeable companion.” They had no children, so the English baronetcy went to his next brother, William.

Sir Thomas was greatly given to hospitality; too much so for his income. On October 22, 1741, he gave a great ball, as Horace Walpole relates, “to a little girl of the Duke of Richmond’s; there are already 200 invited, from miss in a bib and apron to my Lord Chancellor in bib and mace.” The ball began at 8 p.m., and ended at 4 a.m. A few days after Horace Walpole writes, “There were a 197 persons at Sir Thomas’s, and yet it was so well conducted that nobody felt a crowd. He had taken off all his doors, and so separated the old and the young that neither were inconvenienced by the other. The ball began at 8; each man danced one minuet with his partner, and then began country dances. There were four-and-twenty couple, divided into twelve and twelve; each set danced two dances, and then retired into another room, while the other set took their two, and so alternately.... We danced till 4, then had tea and coffee and came home.” A month later he writes about a second ball. What with his numerous entertainments and his building at Rokeby and elsewhere, he became impoverished, and accepted the Governorship of Barbadoes in January, 1742, from which he was recalled in 1747. In Barbadoes he married his second wife, a widow named Salmon, _née_ Booth. She had a considerable fortune, but on her husband’s return to England, she refused to accompany him, preferring Barbadoes. Sir Thomas was intimate with Lord Chesterfield, who made an epigram on him, beginning--

“Unlike my subject will I make my song,
It shall be witty, and it shan’t be long.”

He must have been a bore, for Sir John Hawkins says of him, “Sir Thomas Robinson was a man of the world, or rather of the town, and a great pest to persons of high rank or in office. He was very troublesome to the Earl of Burlington, and when in his visits to him he was told his lordship had gone out, would desire to be admitted to look at a clock, or play with a monkey that was kept in the hall, in hopes of being sent for to the Earl. This he had so frequently done that all the household were tired of him. At length it was concerted amongst the servants that he should receive a summary answer to his usual questions; and accordingly, at his next coming the porter, as soon as he had opened the gate, and without waiting for what he had to say, dismissed him with these words, ‘Sir, his lordship is gone out, the clock stands, and the monkey is dead!’” The Duchess of Portland used to name him to Mrs. Montagu as “your inimitable cousin!”

Appearing in Paris one day at a dinner in his hunting suit of green and gold, and booted and spurred, a French abbé asked who he was, and, on being told his name, and looking at his attire, inquired if he was Robinson Crusoe. His house at Whitehall he sold to Lord Lincoln, and he afterwards lived at Prospect Place, Chelsea. He bought the gardens once belonging to Lord Ranelagh, and, with other shareholders, erected the Rotunda in 1741–42. This place of amusement lasted for quite forty years; the site of it is in the gardens of Chelsea Hospital.

At the Coronation of George III. Sir Thomas, probably from his great height and majestic presence, was chosen to represent the mock Duke of Normandy and Acquitaine, the kings of England still pretending to own those provinces.

In 1769 he sold the estate of Rokeby, Yorks, to John Saurey Morritt, the father of Sir Walter Scott’s friend. The Rokeby estate had been in the possession of the Robinsons 160 years. On March 3, 1777, Sir Thomas Robinson died at his house in Prospect Place, Chelsea, at the age of seventy-six.

SANDLEFORD PRIORY, BERKS.

Sandleford Priory was founded for Austin Canons by Geoffrey, 4th Count of Perche, and his wife, Matilda of Saxony, grand-daughter of Henry II. of England, and niece of King Richard Cœur de Lion, and King John, before the year 1205. The town and manor of Newbury, in Berkshire, were bestowed on the first Count of Perche, who accompanied the Conqueror to England. The Priory was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist. A dispute arising between the Prior and Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury and Dean of Windsor about 1480, the religious forsook the house, and King Edward IV. allowed the Priory to be annexed to the Chapel of St. George’s, Windsor. In the Ayscough Register, folio 50, will be found an account of irregular and scandalous behaviour of the Prior of that period, which probably was the cause of the disruption. The Priory now formed a parcel of the properties of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, and it is stated by the commissioners of Henry VIII. (_vide_ c. 3, Henry VIII.) to be worth £10 annually.

In the reign of James I. Sandleford was declared to be a separate parish from Newbury, and not subject to tithes which had hitherto been paid to the Rector of Newbury. After this a commutation was made that the lessee of the house paid £8 a year to the Rector of Newbury, and for that sum had a pew in perpetuity. It is stated that after this award the chapel of the Priory was allowed to fall into decay. This chapel was separate from the house, and continued to be so till 1781–2, when Mrs. Montagu employed Wyatt to build her an octagonal drawing-room with ante-chambers, which united the house and the chapel. Long previous to this it was used as a bedroom or bedrooms, and in the Montagu manuscripts Hannah More and others are described as sleeping in the chapel bedroom when the rest of the house was occupied. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the lessees of Sandleford were the Pitt Rivers of Strathfieldsaye, and they were succeeded by the Montagu family as early as 1730, or perhaps earlier. At any rate, at that date Mr. Edward Montagu was resident there, and as his mother, _née_ Sarah Rogers, lived with him (as is shown by a letter of 1733 which I possess), it is possible Mr. Charles Montagu had been lessee before his son. He died in 1721. At what period the chapel was dismantled I have no record, but it may have been done by order of the Dean and Canons of Windsor before their letting it as a residence. Elias Ashmole, the great antiquarian, who died in 1692, describes the chapel as he saw it, and says, “Upon the first ascent of steps towards the high altar lyes a freestone tomb of a knight in mail, cross-legged, with a deep shield on his left arm, and seeming to draw his sword, his feet resting on a dragon. Written on the west wall is a Latin inscription.” In a paper belonging to my uncle, the last Baron Rokeby, it is stated the inscription was “written on the north wall of the chapel, but more anciently on the west wall.”

This was the inscription:--

“Lancea, crux, clavi
Spine, mors quam tolleravi,
Demonstrant qua vi
Miserorum Crimmia lavi
In Cruce sum prote qui peccas
Desine pro me desine, do Veniam
Die culpam, Corrige Vitam.”

As to the monument, it has been stated to have been that of the founder, Geoffrey, Count of Perche; but as he died in France at the siege of Acre, it is more likely to have been his son Thomas, Earl of Perche, who died at the battle of Lincoln in 1217; or else it is quite possible that it might be one of the Earls Marshal of Pembroke, as at the death of Thomas, Earl de Perche, his uncle William, Bishop of Chalons, seems to have claimed the property and sold it to William, 2nd Earl Marshal. Anyhow, not a trace of this monument is now to be found. And it would be very interesting to ascertain if it was removed to the Temple church, where the other Earls Marshal of Pembroke are buried and a very similar monument exists; but this is only my surmise. Behind the chapel, when Mrs. Montagu made her alterations in house and garden in 1780 to 1782 with the designs of Wyatt and “Capability Browne,” a number of skulls and bones were found, and, with the characteristic irreverence of the eighteenth century, were buried in what is now called “Monkey Lane,” near Newbury. The present library was originally the refectory. In 1836 Edward, 5th Baron Rokeby, parted with the lease of Sandleford to Mr. William Chatteris, who eventually, in 1875, enfranchised the property from the Dean and Canons of Windsor, and, dying a widower and without issue, he left Sandleford to his second wife’s nephew Mr. Alpin Macgregor. Mrs. Chatteris was the second daughter of Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, the friend of Nelson. Mrs. Myers, who has a lease of Sandleford now, will not use the chapel as a dining-room. Hannah More, writing in 1784, whilst staying at Sandleford, says, “There is an irregular beauty and greatness in the new buildings, and in the cathedral aisles which open to the great Gothic window (alluding to the east end of the chapel, still all glass), which is exceedingly agreeable to the imagination. It is solemn without being sad, and Gothic without being gloomy.”

DENTON HALL, NEAR NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, NORTHUMBERLAND.

The history of Denton Hall dates from the ancient Britons, and a burial-place of theirs, with an urn and bones, was found near the Roman wall within a quarter of a mile from the hall. It subsequently became the site of a Roman camp, which was occupied by a garrison of Hadrian’s soldiers, and a wall was built to keep out the Picts and Scots. Of the Roman relics there still exist an altar dedicated to Jupiter, and several carved stones, and in Mrs. Montagu’s time many Roman coins and objects were discovered. In No. 7, Vol. 2, of the _Proceedings of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne_, 1885, Mr. W. Aubone Hoyle, then living with his brother at the hall, writes, “A little to the south-west stood a chapel, of which a baptismal font remains and a few sculptured stones; adjoining these was a burial-ground, which is now included in the garden. An incised slab, with a memorial cross and sword, was found here some years ago, as well as some large stone coffins; and a cist of ancient British times, containing a funeral urn. The chapel was removed shortly after the Reformation. The earliest record we have of the occupants is of a family of the name of Denton, in the tenth century, who continued to hold lands here and in the neighbourhood, and also at Newcastle.”

The Widdringtons seem to have succeeded the Dentons, and Mr. Hoyle continues, “The manor of Denton, saving these rents paid to the Widdringtons, had been, in 1380, granted to the Prior and Convent of Tynemouth, and was used by them as a country residence or grange. Tradition relates that they had an underground passage leading from Denton to their residence at Benwell Tower. The present building was probably erected by them at the beginning of the sixteenth century--1503 being the date of erection. The Roman wall skirting its grounds appears to have supplied the materials, as most of the stones are of the Roman type. The roof was formed of flags fastened with pins made of sheep bones. These have gradually been done away with until only a few courses remain, and the flags have been replaced by tiles. At the Dissolution in 1539, the Widdringtons lost their interest in Denton, and the Erringtons appear.”

The Erringtons being Jacobites, Mr. Hoyle continues, “Their loyalty to the Stuarts cost them their estates, which now passed to a family of Rogers, related to the Earl of Sandwich.” As has been shown in this book, Mr. Edward Montagu, at the death of his cousin, Mr. Rogers, became owner, to quote his wife’s words, “of Denton; Mr. Montagu has half the estate by descent, a share by testamentary disposition, and a part by purchase.” At the death of Mrs. Montagu in 1800, the estate passed into the possession of her nephew and adopted son, Matthew Montagu, afterwards 4th Baron Rokeby, who let the hall to Mr. Richard Hoyle, and his descendants occupied the house till 1889. Henry, 6th Baron Rokeby, dying in 1883, left the estate of Denton to his grandson, Lord Henry Paulet, now 16th Marquis of Winchester, who in 1886 sold the whole estate. The hall was bought by Mr. John Henderson, of Allendale, who resold it to Mr. William Andrew I’Anson, the present owner. The Denton ghost, called “Old Silky” by the miners, one of the most authentic on record, is a beneficent spirit, for she is said on various occasions to have warned the miners against coal-damp. A song about her is still sung, I am told, in Newcastle, but hitherto I have failed to obtain it, or to discover who “Silky” was. A further account of her can be read in Ingram’s “Haunted Homes,” under “Denton Hall.”

INDEX.

_The figures in italics refer to the notes only._

A

Abbas, Shah, ii. 99

Abel, ii. 245

Achard, Mr., tutor, afterwards secretary to Duke of Portland, i. 44,
48, 61, 90, 158, 185

Adam, ii. 245

_Adventurer, the_, ii. 25

_Advertiser, the_, ii. 123

Æsop’s _Fables_, i. 73

Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, i. 259

Albemarle, George Keppel, 15th Earl of, ii. 220

Albemarle, Lady, ii. 259

Aldworth, Richard Neville, ii. 250

Alexander, William, ii. 98, 108

Alexander, Mrs. W. (_née_ Monsey), ii. 98

Allen, Lady, i. 267, 268; ii. 121

Allison, A., _i. 179_

Alnwick Castle, ii. 166

Alstone, Mr. and Mrs., i. 286

Ameen, Joseph. _See_ Emin, Joseph

Amelia, Princess (daughter of George II.), ii. 152, 213, 214

Amesbury, i. 249

Amherst, General, ii. _134_, 140, 154

Amyand, Mr., i. 167; ii. 163

Ancaster, Duchess of, ii. 252

Ancaster, Peregrine, 3rd Duke of, i. 279

Ancram, Lady, i. 269

Andover, Mary, Lady (Mrs. Botham’s intimate friend and patroness),
i. 55, 95, 102, 115, 144, 194; ii. 19;
her letters to Mrs. Montagu, i. 230, 231

Andover, William, Lord, i. _55_, _144_, 224, 230

Anne, Queen, _i. 245_

Anson, Admiral Lord, i. 107, 268; ii. 89, 154;
captures a Spanish treasure-ship, i. 186;
_A Voyage round the World_, i. 259

Anson, Lady, i. 268, 269; ii. 142

Anstey, Christopher, _New Bath Guide_, i. 19, _256_; ii. 87

Anstey, Miss, i. 256, 259, 270, 275; ii. 54, 56, 70, 82;
works a panel of Mrs. Montagu’s feather screen, i. 268;
her death, ii. 87;
letters from Mrs. Montagu to, i. 19, 281; ii. 18, 77;
her letters to Mrs. Montagu, ii. 23

Apreece, Mr. and Mrs., i. 286

Archdeacon, Dominick, ii. 129

Archdeacon, Mrs. D. (Mary Creagh), ii. 129

Archdeacon, William, ii. 160

Arezzo, Collection of, ii. 15

Argyll, John, 2nd Duke of, and Duke of Greenwich, i. 117; ii. 38, 233

Argyll, Duchess of (Elizabeth Gunning), i. 270, 287, 288

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of, ii. 165, 167, 195

Argyll, John, 5th Duke of, _i. 270_

Arran, Earl of, ii. 155

Arran, Elizabeth, Countess of, ii. 155

Ascham, Miss, i. 286

Ashe, Miss, called by Walpole, the “Pollard Ashe,” i. 287, 288

Askew, Dr., ii. 128, 144

Athole, Duncan de Atholia, Earl of, i. 1

Athole, John Murray, 3rd Duke of, ii. 168

Atkinson, Mr., farm bailiff at Sandleford, i. 145; ii. 147

Atterbury, Bishop, _i. 194_

Audley, Dr., i. 129

Audley, Mr. (Hinchinbroke House), i. 270

Augusta, Princess (daughter of George II.), i. 53

Austin, Sir Robert, i. 27

Austria, Emperor of, ii. 146

Aveiro, Duke of, ii. 180

Aylesbury, Lord, i. 233

Aylesford, Countess of, _i. 269_

Aylesford, Heneage, 1st Earl of, _i. 39_

Aylesford, Heneage, 2nd Earl of, i. 41, _55_, 144; ii. 19, 55

Aylmer, Lord, ii. 15

Ayscough, D.D., Rev. Francis, ii. 40, 63

Ayscough, Mrs. (_née_ Lyttelton), ii. 63

B

Baden, Prince of, i. 286

Bagshot Heath, ii. 74

Balchen, Admiral Sir John, ii. 92

Balmerino, Lord, _i. 231_

Baltimore, Lord, ii. 70

Banbury, Charles Knollys, 3rd Earl of, i. 22

Banks, Miss, ii. 45

Barbarini, i. 92

Bareil, M. de, _ii. 158_

Barrington, Dowager Lady, i. 269

Barrington, 2nd Viscount, ii. 185

Barrow, Rev. Dr. Isaac, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, ii. 91

Barrows, Mrs., i. 241

Barry, Spranger, Irish actor, i. 279

_Bas bleus_, the, ii. 98;
and shells, ii. 268

Basildon, Lady Fane’s grottoes at, i. 245

Bateman, Lord, ii. 95

Bateman, Richard, ii. 192

Bath, i. 36–41, 254;
“Coffee House” at, i. 255