EX OF THE L A S T C E N T U R Y M R EL I ZA E ( S . B TH MON TA GU ) I LL U S TRA TE D I N HER UN PUB LI S HED L E TTERS C LL CT D A N D A R RA N GED O E E , W ITH A B IOGRA PHICA L TC A N D A C T SKE H, HAP ER O N B LU E S T O C K I N GS . L O N D O N ' C P R E F A E . IN 1 8 0 w the year 9 , Mr . Matthe Montagu published r r r his the fi st two of fou volumes of lette s of aunt , Elizabeth Montagu . He was not only her nephew, w a s s her r he al o her adopted son and executo . O n th D r r l the 5 of ecembe in that yea , the ce e bra ted statesman William Windham w a s reading “ u - those volumes, in the evening, p stairs ; and he subsequently recorded the following judgment of them in his Diary I think very highly of O ne r s is s er ies unctu them . of thei chief merit j f N r 1 a gue. othing can be more easy and natu al than the manner in which the thoughts rise one out of the other, even where the thoughts may r r appea rather forced, nor is the expression eve in hard or laboured . I see but little to object to vi PREFA CE. s r the thoughts themselve , but nothing can be mo e natural or graceful than the manner in which they f is are put together . The low of her style not less s is f l s natural , becau e it u ly charged with hining s a nd s r . particle , pa kles as it flows 1 8 1 M r . lVI atthew In 3 , Montagu published two ’ r mo e volumes of his aunt s correspondence . The p ress generally received them with pleasant testi s mony of approval . It not only endor ed the s judgment of the eminent tatesman quoted above, but it especially pointed out that the letters were not genuine and authentic, which could be said of a similar collection of letter s then challenging the ’ M rs . M onta u s s censure of the town . g letter were r for s read with great avidity, and reade s, the mo t r s pa t, came to the ame conclusion as the statesman a nd the critic s . The last letter in the series is addressed to M rs . C S Elizabeth arter The date is eptember, 1 7 6 1 . The writer lived nearly forty years after D that date . uring that time, she maintained a lively correspondence ; her letters were copied and PREF E A C . vii . circulated After her death, a few, with fragments of others, found their way into various periodicals . The correspondence which Mrs . Elizabeth Mon -in- tagu kept up with her sister law, Mrs Robinson, wife of the Rev . William Robinson, and a few other w 1 6 1 friends, bet een 7 and the close of the last century, was long in the possession of the late . s Mr Richard Bentley, who purchased them at a ale of autographs . These form the chief portion of the present volume . In a note to the letters published by Mr . Mon “ tagu, the editor states that they are intended to convey in them the biography of the writer, which the editor thinks he could not s o well exemplify by any remarks of his own as by the letters themselves . ’ s Mr . Montagu gave to his aunt readers every s word of every epi tle, from the salutation to the signature . From the letters now printed for the first time there have only been omitted vain repetitions, formal compliments, and the nothings that may s have once been omethings, but which are now a nd s r mere dust a hes , f om which little of value r is to be sifted . The e have been retained all that u r co ld furthe convey the biography of the writer, with addition of such anecdotal illu stration from the printed letters and from contemporary records as might s erve to show more completely the character r u C and su ro ndings of a Lady of the Last entury . LON DON N ov 1 . 8 7 2 . C O N T E N T S . C HA PTER I . T A N D T M R S . M T BIR H PAREN AGE OF ON AGU. LONG T R — — OM DR . OBINSON . CONYERS M IDDLETON EARLY T M R M — T . RAINING OF S . ON AGU FUNERAL A T YORK — C T D L M R . M H A HE RA S AKIN . ER SYSTEM OF F EM A LE ED C T N — S C L A T T TT M H C U A IO HOO O ENHA IGH ROSS . — E L TS M R S . M TH AR Y HABI OF ONTAGU . E DUCHESS — — - P TL D. M LE D LA T T OF OR AN ARY BONE GAR ENS. PE I E ” F D T A T T A T T D LL — L D N L I GE BA H, UNBRI GE WE S . OR OE S M T — — . T L I 0 L D L TT LT . O ERSE BA H IFE IN 7 4 . OR Y E ON S C L T X A N D C T PO LYPHEM U SES — M D AR E BEAU OUN RY . O ERN ’ M ARRIAGES — GA R R I C K S R ICHARD THE THIRD — O FFERS OF M ARRIAGE TO MISS R OBINSON Pa ge I to CHA PTER I I W D M T — DD — D T . A LL T . E AR ON AGU. WE ING OUR ER HORPE D P L I N — C T T T L D U P . C PURSUI S HERE. OR HARA ER OF ’ M M N T — W L T R O A GU S . U C M . S . NEIGHBOURS N E O E VISI OR — — D L L D N T . HABITS OF M IN . IFE IN ON O BIR H OF A SON “ ” — D T SO N — V T T N L ITTLE PUN CH . EA H OF HER ISI S U BRIDGE WELLS — DOCTOR YOUNG A N D C OLLEY C IBBER — THE — THE R LL THERE V I CAR OF TUNBRIDGE . EBE ION ’ - — D T M T . I . M ON TA GU S R LT OF 7 45 EA H OF M R S . O HE WI ON — — DEATH OF HER BROTHER M ODE OF LIFE A T BATH . ’ — — L T T M R . M ON TA GU S T T . L M R S . GI BER WES . S AS ES OVE — — HER L C L W . M . OF BOOKS . ANA YSIS OF LARISSA HAR O E RS — LA Dv DW — DL A T PI LKINGTON . SAN I CH M ISS CHU EIGH — D L TT To M R . M T a e 2 to 8 THE MASQUERA E . E ER ON AGU P g 3 5 6 CON TEN TS . C HAPTER I II . — — M R S . V T L D L W S C TT. M ISI S ON ON . GEORGE E IS O ARRIES ’ M ON TA GU S SISTER — THEIR SEPARATIO N — DEATH OF A — P — THE W . L D H T TT. FRIEND A Y ES ER I REFUGEE, BO ER ’ — L LADY TOWNSHEND S BAL L LADY Ess Ex . B UE ” — — S T LL L T . R M T M R . M S OCKINGS . BENJA IN I INGF EE U OURS — - M R S . EL Z T OF WA R LIFE IN THE COUNTRY . I ABE H T — M E M T CC D TO C T CAR ER . ON AGU SU EE S A RI H INHERI — — — D M T E D CT M . DR . ANCE . ANGEROUS IS AK O OR ONSEY ’ ’ — — M O N TA GU S N M R O L T. M R S . JOHNSO S . G E S BENEFI — T T C M A N D M C HARACTER OF BURKE . WRI ES A CRI I IS ISSES — — D T A N D DIV ER SION s . TWO O LD A BALL . ISSIPA IONS “ — — DI A L M R S . M T A U THOR Ess . OVERS . ON AGU AS AN ” — E D D F C THE D . LOGU ES OF TH EA . REN H IN SHA ES — — L T T . A CC F EM AL E EDUCATION . ONGING AF ER RES ESSION — T D H H LL ST T . OF GEORGE THE HIR . OUSE IN I REE — L T F URNITURE IN FASHIO N M R S . MONTAGU A PO I I C AL — A CD T OLD S C TC W M . EC ONOM IST. NE O E OF AN O H O AN “ ” — T — HI s T TM T THE PENITENTS . WARBUR ON . REA EN OF - LL M R N — HI S L S HAK ESPEARE . WI IA OBINSO IFE OF ’ I R C L LL M . H MM D INACT ION . S HAR ES WI IA S A ON S ” ELEGIES P a ge 59 to 8 8 HA P TE IV C R .