Memoirs of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and of the Court of Queen Anne Vol. 1 (of 2)Thomson, A. T., Mrs.
History
Memoirs of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and of the Court of Queen Anne Vol. 1 (of 2)
Thomson, A. T., Mrs.
Great Britain -- Court and courtiers -- Biography; Marlborough, Sarah Jennings Churchill, Duchess of, 1660-1744
Yet the poet threw all the drawings which he is said to have made of
this amiable lady into the fire. “She was,” says the monumental
inscription to her memory in Little Gaddesden church, Hertfordshire, “a
lady of exquisite fineness, both of mind and body; agreeably tall; of a
delicate shape and beautiful mien; of a most obliging, winning carriage;
sweetness, modesty, affability, were met together; whatsoever is
virtuous, decent, and praiseworthy, she made the rule of all her
actions; her discourse was cheerful, lively, and ingenuous; pleasing,
without ever saying too much or too little; so that her virtue appeared
with the greatest advantage and lustre; her address was as became her
quality, great, without pride; admired and unenvied by her equals; and
none condescended with greater grace and satisfaction to her
inferiors.”[332]
For this accomplished being a suitable settlement in life was provided;
and, at a very early age, she was united to Scrope, Earl, and afterwards
Duke, of Bridgwater.
If we may judge from the inscription on her monument, this union appears
to have been as replete with happiness as the fondest parents could have
wished. “Happy,” says the epitaph, “her lord in such a wife; happy her
children in such a mother; happy her servants that duly attended upon
her. Being arrived at the highest pitch of worldly felicity, in full
enjoyment of tenderest love and esteem of her entirely beloved husband,
universally admired and spoken of for every good quality.”[333]
Such were the terms employed in describing this beloved child of the
Marlborough family, whose early fate, like that of her sister, Lady
Sunderland, afterwards embittered their father’s old age, and hastened
his death by the effects of grief.
His youngest daughter, Lady Mary, Pope’s “Angel Duchess Montagu,”
married, in 1705, John Montagu, Duke of Montagu, Grand Master of the
Order of the Bath, and the trusted servant of successive
sovereigns.[334] The Duchess of Montagu became, eventually, one of the
bedchamber ladies to the Princess of Males, afterwards Queen Caroline,
towards whom her mother, the Duchess of Marlborough, imbibed a strong
aversion. “The Angel Duchess Montagu,” beautiful as her sisters, appears
not to have verified that name in her subsequent conduct to her mother,
with whom she was long at bitter variance. At this epoch of the Duchess
of Marlborough’s life, Lady Mary was, however, yet a child, and her
mother’s temper had not shone forth, as afterwards it became apparent,
in her conduct.
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