is shown in passages in her letters.
[351] His body was moved to Winchester Cathedral eventually, and is
buried with his father and mother there, by her will in October,
1800.
[352] The Rev. Dr. Robert Freind, died August 9, 1751.
[Page heading: THE LOSS OF AN ONLY CHILD]
The Duchess of Portland writes on September 7, 1744--
“MY DEAREST AND MOST AMIABLE OF FRIENDS,
“Could I have thought I should have given you a moment’s relief or
abated the anguish of your affliction, I should before now have
written to you, but I found myself too much affected to be able
to say anything to lessen it. Thank God, my dear Friend, your
Health is good, my dependence is upon your good understanding and
submission to the Divine Will, for no one can have a higher idea
of the Deity than I know you have. Everything is in His disposal,
our blessings, and our afflictions, and He never chastises us
above what we are able to bear. This affliction would have been
still more grievous had you been out of the way.[353] You might
have thought some neglect had been the cause, which now you
are convinced was not in the power of Human Means. There is no
misfortune but what God Almighty discovers His mercy in some means
or other, even in our most bitter calamities. But why should I
tell you this, that know and think so much better than I can do?
It is a great comfort to me that you are well, and I hope you will
endeavour to keep so. Miss Robinson has been most excessively
kind in giving me such frequent accounts of you, for which I shall
ever esteem her, and be her most humble, grateful servant.... What
would I give to be with you, my dear Friend, that you might pour
out your whole heart, and utter all your grief, but it is never in
my power to be of any service to those I love. Adieu, God bless
and preserve you from any future ill, but that He may heap many
blessings on you is the ardent wish of one that entirely loves you
with the utmost fidelity and will ever be yours.”
[353] This shows Mrs. Montagu was not away at the time of her
child’s death.
[Illustration:
_Thomas Hudson Pinx._ _Emery Walker Ph. Sc._
_Margaret Cavendish Harley second Duchess of Portland._]
[Page heading: SUBMISSION TO GOD’S WILL]
To this letter Mrs. Montagu replied--
“Allerthorpe, September 16, 1744.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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