Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Her Life and Letters (1689-1762)Melville, Lewis
History
Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Her Life and Letters (1689-1762)
Melville, Lewis
Montagu, Mary Wortley, Lady 1689-1762; Montagu, Mary Wortley, Lady 1689-1762 -- Correspondence
Lady Mary, once having given vent to her feeling of injustice, was not
concerned to mince her words: "You seem perfectly pleased with our
separation, and indifferent how long it continues.... When I reflect on
your behaviour, I am ashamed of my own: I think I am playing the part of
my Lady Winchester. At least be as generous as My Lord; and as he made
early confession of his aversion, own to me your inconstancy, and upon
my word I will give you no more trouble about it.... For my part, as
'tis my first, this is my last complaint, and your next of the kind
shall go back enclosed to you in blank paper."
CHAPTER VI
LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU'S ACCOUNT OF THE COURT OF GEORGE I
Lady Mary, then, had been in Yorkshire when the Queen died, and was
still in the country, much against her will, when the King arrived on
September 18. Soon after, however, she came to town, and, so to speak,
looked around the Court. Her "Account of the Court of George I" is not
always accurate, and is certainly often prejudiced. It is not the less
interesting because the writer did not mince her words, even when
discussing the character of her friend, "Dolly" Walpole. Notwithstanding,
this bird-eye view of the royal and political circles at the accession
of the first of the Hanoverian monarchs is so valuable as to deserve
inclusion in this work.
"The new Court with all their train was arrived before I left the
country. The Duke of Marlborough was returned in a sort of triumph, with
the apparent merit of having suffered for his fidelity in the
succession, and was reinstated in his office of general, &c. In short,
all people who had suffered any hardship or disgrace during the late
ministry would have it believed that it was occasioned by their
attachment to the House of Hanover. Even Mr. Walpole, who had been sent
to the Tower for a piece of bribery proved upon him, was called a
confessor to the cause. But he had another piece of good luck that yet
more contributed to his advancement, he had a very handsome sister,
whose folly had lost her reputation in London; but the yet greater folly
of Lord Townshend, who happened to be a neighbour in Norfolk to Mr.
Walpole, had occasioned his being drawn in to marry her some months
before the Queen died.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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