“The French ambassador has fitted up his house with much gayety and splendor. He is much connected with that party which is at present very unpopular. It is affirmed that his court has remitted £70,000 to him, to support the party in elections. The French Cabinet has ever made use of bribery whenever they could introduce it for their purposes; and alas! there are few places or persons to whom gold does not find access! “... I think your evening readings must be very improving to my neice. History presents to young persons many good examples, and will counteract the impressions of our newspapers, which give an account of the vices, follies, and extravagances of ye times. It is much better for a young lady to read the characters of the Lucretias and Portias, than to defile her mind with paragraphs of crim. con., elopements, etc. “... My health has not been interrupted by the bad weather we have had. I believe Portman Square is the Montpellier of England. I never enjoy’d such health as since I came to live in it.” “_1784, Sandleford._ ... The improvements out-of-doors have advanced greatly from the time I left Sandleford last August. When I left a little rivulet had assumed the air of a river. Charming walks on its banks and through the wood make me often think with gratitude of the late Mr. Brown, by whose plans all these things were accomplish’d.... We are now embellishing the grounds to the south and making an approach to the house, which will be far preferable to the present. Mr. Wyatt has built me a large bedchamber and dressing-room, which command a beautiful prospect.... Mrs. More and Mrs. Garrick are now with me, and, I flatter myself, will not leave me before I may hope for my lord primate’s return.” It was in the above year that Johnson gave the following testimony to the quality of Mrs. Montagu’s intellect: “Mrs. Montagu, sir, does not make a trade of her wit; but Mrs. Montagu is a very extraordinary woman; she has a constant stream of conversation, and it is always impregnated—it has always meaning.” He further said, “That lady exerts more mind in conversation than any person I ever met with. Sir, she displays such powers of ratiocination, such radiations of intellectual eminence, as are amazing....” CHAPTER XIII. To Mrs. W. Robinson.—“_Sandleford, February 3, 1784._ ... The air-balloons, without a pun, may be said to rise higher and higher, by every experiment. Messrs. Roberts performed a journey of 150 miles in six hours. By this mode of travelling I might go hence to my house in Northumberland in twelve hours; but till the aerial navigation is more ascertained, I shall not attempt it; lest, instead of finding myself at the verge of my coal-pits, the end of my journey, I should alight on the summit of a Welsh mountain.