Critical State of Public Affairs—Voltaire’s Attack on Shakespeare—Mrs. Montagu’s Defence—Reception of Her Essay—Countess Gower’s Criticism—Doctor Johnson’s Opinion of It—Garrick—Cowper’s Opinion—Mrs. Montagu Falls Ill—Visits Edinburgh—Mrs. Chapone—Lord Buchan—Lord Kinnoul—Lord Breadalbane—Lord Kames—Scotch Hospitality—Death of George Grenville—Rumours of War—The King’s Speech—Lord Chatham—Conversations of Lord Kames and Mrs. Montagu—Voltaire’s Abuse of Lord Kames—William Emerson—Cheated by His Father-in-law—Burke—George Grenville—Death of the Duke of Bedford—His Character, Wealth, and Political Influence—Legacies—Foreign Politics—Ladies’ Schools 106 CHAPTER VII. The Duchess of Portland—Fineness of the Weather—Visit to Winchester—Smuggling—Visit to Mr. Burke at Beaconsfield—Character of Mr. Burke—Lord Temple—Lord Nuneham—Mrs. Montagu’s Relations—Gray the Poet—Compared to Pindar—Changes in Newspapers—Extinction of Letter-Writing—Failure of Sir George C——e—Bad State of the Country—Good Luck in Smuggling—Requirements of a Young Lady in 1773—Christmas Festivities—Character of Mrs. Montagu’s Niece—Lord Stanhope—Lord Mahon—Observations on the Bringing-up of Children—Miss Gregory—The Price of a Dull Man—Doctor Johnson—Mrs. Montagu Settles an Annuity on Mrs. Williams—Serious Illness of Mr. Montagu—His Love of Mathematics—His Death—Prospects of His Widow—Horace Walpole to Mason 122 CHAPTER VIII. Mrs. Montagu’s Attention to Her Affairs—Visits Sandleford and Denton—Visits Her Estate at Burniston—Entertains Her Tenants—Drought in 1775—Charitable Institutions—Visits Her Collieries—Difference between Her Northumbrian and Yorkshire Tenantry—Anecdote of Walter Scott—Lord Villiers Acts Lord Townley—The French Ambassador—Lord Granby—Mrs. Montagu in Paris—Voltaire Sends a Paper to the Academy against Shakespeare—Mrs. Montagu Is Present at the Reading—Her Ready Reply to M. Suard—A Judicious Idleness—Quantity of Rouge Used in Paris—The Emperor of Austria—“The School for Scandal”—The Duchess of Devonshire—Run of Bad Weather—Sir William Temple—Doctor Robinson’s History of America—Lord Shelburne—Abbé Raynal—Prevalence of Influenza—Engagement of Lady Mary Somerset—Death of Morris Robinson—Jack the Painter—Doctor Dodd—Lord Chesterfield—Lady Strathmore’s Conduct at the Elections—Stoney Bowes 139 CHAPTER IX.