Dr. Monsey, seriously unwell, but anxious to see his beloved friend, paid Mrs. Montagu a short visit at Tunbridge to take farewell of her before her setting out to join her husband in Northumberland. In a letter to Lord Lyttelton of September 7 she says-- “The great Monsey came hither on Friday and stays till Thursday, he is an excellent piece of Tunbridge Ware. He is great in the Coffee house, great in the rooms, and great on the Pantiles. Bucks, Divines, Misses, and Virtuosi are all equally agreeable to him. Miss Sally Stanley leaves me on Friday. There is no abatement of Lord Bath’s[282] passion and I have had two sides of folio paper from the Bishop of London,[283] so affectionate, so polite, so badine it would surprise you. I answered his Lordship’s first letter, concerning the ‘Highland Poems,’[284] and with great deference urged the reasons which induced me to esteem them genuine. His Lordship pays great compliment to what I had said on the subject, answering other parts of my letter with spirit and gaiety, and at last concludes that, in spite of 83, without a voice, and with shaking hands, he had endeavoured to follow my train of thought, which he should always look upon as a very good direction.” [282] Lord Bath had become an ardent admirer of her. [283] Thomas Sherlock, born 1678, died 1761. [284] Macpherson’s “Fragments of Ancient Poetry,” from the Gaelic. She then informs Lord Lyttelton-- “I shall take leave of Tunbridge to-morrow sennight, the 15th of September. I shall take two days’ rest in London, and propose to set out on Thursday, 18th....” [Page heading: MR. ALLAN RAMSAY] Mrs. Montagu had invited Mr. and Mrs. Allan Ramsay to visit her at Tunbridge. Allan Ramsay was a portrait painter of note, son of Allan Ramsay[285] the Scotch poet, who wrote “The Gentle Shepherd” and other poems. He writes on September 11 thus-- [285] Allan Ramsay, the poet, born 1686, died 1758. “MADAM,