“this has hindered me from receiving so much pleasure from the
unexpected kindness of Lord Barrington[270] as might naturally have
been expected.” He then comments on her disappointment “at the
smallness of the favour conferred upon me, for it seems to me much
superior to anything i would have expected. However favourable you,
dear Madam, may judge me, i cannot rate my talents so highly as to
think they are undervalued at £100 per ann., when no business is to
be done for it.” This was his appointment as Master of Kensington
Barracks, which took place on June 12. “I had a letter from Dr.
Monsey dated Wotton, that gives me much concern, for by his account
he seems to be in a bad state of health, and i should think by no
means qualified to travel in the _pais_ (_sic_) _du tendre_, but he
is a thorough-paced hero, and can be romantic in the midst of pain.
Should you lose your knight errant i do not think the world can
furnish you with a successor, for amongst all your other admirers
you will not perhaps meet with one who at seventy is capable of all
the tenderness which they have at twenty....” After this he alludes
to the inflammation of the eyes Mrs. Montagu was suffering from.
“If you cannot see to write he and all your friends will lose one
of their greatest pleasures. Has he prescribed the Vitriol Water?”
[270] 2nd Viscount Barrington, Secretary for War in 1755, etc.
[Page heading: THE STANLEY FAMILY]
Miss Anne Stanley, daughter of Mr. Stanley, of Paultons, Hants, and
grand-daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, now joined Mrs. Montagu from
“Clewar,” near Windsor.[271] Anne and Sarah Stanley lived with their
mother, Sarah Stanley, and were the intimate friends of Lord Lyttelton,
whom Anne mentions in a letter of July 29. “Lord Lyttelton returned
to us yesterday, and has had a bad night with the pain in his back,
which has made him resolve to give up Sunning Hill Waters.” Anne
eventually married Welbore Ellis, afterwards Lord Mendip. Sarah married
Christopher D’Oyley, M.P. Their one brother was the Right Hon. Hans
Stanley,[272] Lord of the Admiralty from 1757 to 1763.
[271] Now known as Clewer.
[272] He died in 1780.
On August 2 Lord Lyttelton writes from Hill Street--
“Monsieur des Champs brought me his translation of your three
Dialogues. They are as well done as the poverty of the French
tongue will admit. But such eloquence as yours must lose by being
transposed into any other language.... There is great mourning
in the gay world for poor Lady Lincoln.[273] I have seen her so
lively, so cheerfull, so happy, that it shocks me to think of her
sudden dissolution, and it frights me when I think that I have very
dear friends who may as suddenly die, and especially some whose
spirits, like hers, exceed their strength. Monsey says he cannot
tell what was the cause of her death.”
[273] Catherine Pelham, daughter of Henry Pelham, brother to the 1st
Duke of Newcastle; she died July 27, 1760.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account