Morris Robinson, when not in town on business, lived with his brother,
and it was a home to all the brothers as they required one, their gay
old father, Mr. Robinson, preferring lodgings in London, where he was
the life and soul of the fashionable coffee-houses.
[Page heading: A BACHELOR!]
Mr. Montagu having complained of his horse not liking stony roads, his
wife writes--
“I am sorry your horse does not like hard roads, for the ways about
Horton are very stony; a dull horse is like a dull friend, one is
safe but not much delighted in their company.” She adds, “I hope
the sight of so many merry bachelors does not revive in you the
love of a single state. Theirs is the joy of the wicked, not the
pure comforts of a holy state like matrimony.... Poor Mr. Brockman
is the only man truly sensible of the evils of celibacy, and he
weeps and will not be comforted, as all unmarried men should do,
were they truly sensible of their misfortune.”
This is playfully malicious, as Mr. Brockman had been one of her
earliest admirers.
[Page heading: MOUNT MORRIS]
Her husband, on October 12, answers a long letter of hers about the
monuments in Canterbury Cathedral, and says--
“Since I came here I have passed my time much to my satisfaction,
the entire freedom and liberty that reigns here, the love and
harmony that dwells amongst the brethren, as it is very uncommon,
so is the more agreeable to me, as I cannot but take a part and
be affected with pleasure and pain in everything that relates
to you. If you had been here you would have much added to our
happiness, and I believe this not only to be my sentiments but
that of all the rest of the company. I have never before now had
an opportunity of sufficiently observing this house, which is very
large and perfectly regular, though it is not placed just where one
could wish it, ’tis easy to see is capable of great improvement by
openings and cuttings in a good deal of that fine prospect which is
now shut out by the walls and trees; and by grubbing up the bushes
and hedges and making a kind of Paddock on the South side of the
house. A bason of water like that at Newbold might also be easily
made.... Some of these things the worthy owner is not without
having some thoughts of doing, as well as cutting some walks and
vistas through his wood.”
There is a picture of Mount Morris in Harris’ ‘History of Kent,’
1719, a large square house with a cupola surmounted by a big ball and
weathercock. In front of the house and round it are the small walled
gardens, formally planted, the fashion of the period. These were
eventually pulled down by Matthew Robinson, the hedges grubbed and
all thrown into one large park,[19] in which his numerous horses and
cattle roamed at large. Mr. Montagu seemed to have enjoyed some fine
partridge shooting whilst at Horton. He also frequented “‘Old Father
Ocean’ at Hythe, with whose solemn majestic look I am always delighted.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account