Sugley, Throckley, Newbiggin, Scotswood, etc., etc.; collieries and
saltpans in Cullercoats, Monkseaton, Whitley, and Hartley, etc., etc.
Mrs. Montagu was at Ealing with the Bothams when the express came. She
writes to her husband, “It gives me pleasure to think I shall see you
with unblemished integrity and unsoiled with unjust gain, enjoying that
affluence many purchase with the loss of honesty and honour.”
[189] Mr. Rogers’ leg swelling, the doctors feared dropsy, and made
him drink two bottles of Hock daily.
Her brother Morris fetched her from Ealing in order to accompany her
husband to the north. Mr. Rogers was embalmed and buried on July 5 at
St. Nicholas’ church in Newcastle. The Montagus did not start for the
North till Tuesday, August 1. A letter from Dr. Monsey of June 26,
while staying with the Garricks at Hampton, congratulates Mrs. Montagu
on her inheritance, but scolds her for leaving her friends to go North.
This contains the first mention of his acquaintance with the Garricks,
who were great friends of Dr. Monsey’s, and he says, “Mr. Garrick[190]
was very near in a apoplectic fit when he found you were gone.... Mrs.
Garrick[191] also abus’d herself for not pressing you to return to the
Temple[192] and enjoy another half-hour.”
[190] David Garrick, born 1716, died 1779; famous actor.
[191] Eva Marie Veilchen, or Viegel, known as “la Violette,” once an
opera _danseuse_.
[192] The temple at Hampton, on the lawn by the river, still
existent; once held Roubilliac’s bust of Shakespeare.
[Page heading: ELIZABETH CARTER]
[Page heading: MRS. MONTAGU’S LETTER]
The next letter is the first I possess to Elizabeth Carter, whose
learned translation of Epictetus was first printed in April of 1758.
Miss Carter, or _Mrs._ Carter (as courtesy termed her), was the
daughter of a clergyman, the Rev. Nicholas Carter, D.D., Perpetual
Curate of Deal, Kent, where he resided; he had been twice married,
and Elizabeth was his child by his first marriage. To his children by
both marriages Mr. Carter gave an excellent education, and at an early
age Elizabeth studied Latin, Greek, and eventually Hebrew. She was a
proficient in French, and taught herself Italian, Spanish, and German;
later in life Portuguese and Arabic were added. Her application to
study produced severe headaches, principally brought on by drinking
green tea and taking snuff to keep herself awake. It appears that Mrs.
Montagu had met her in 1757, but Mrs. Carter had rather avoided such a
brilliant acquaintance, being herself of a most humble and unambitious
character, despite her learning. From the following portions of Mrs.
Montagu’s letter we learn that Miss Carter had been paying her a
visit:--
“Hill Street, July 6, 1758.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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