Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Her Life and Letters (1689-1762)

CHAPTER I. Childhood (1689-1703)

CHILDHOOD (1689-1703)

Birth of Mary Pierrepont, after Lady Mary Wortley Montagu--Account of the Pierrepont family--Lady Mary's immediate ancestors--Her father, Evelyn Pierrepont, succeeds to the Earldom of Kingston in 1790--The extinct marquisate of Dorchester revived in his favour--His marriage--Issue of the marriage--Death of his wife--Lady Mary stays with her grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Pierrepont--Her early taste for reading--She learns Latin, and, presently, Italian--Encouraged in her literary ambitions by her uncle, William Feilding, and Bishop Burnet--Submits to the Bishop a translation of "Encheiridion" of Epictetus--An attractive child--A "toast" at the Kit-Cat Club--Acts as hostess to her father

CHAPTER II. Girlhood (1703-1710)

GIRLHOOD (1703-1710)

Lady Mary makes the acquaintance of Edward Wortley Montagu--Montagu attracted by her looks and her literary gifts. Assists her in her studies--Montagu a friend of the leading men of letters of the day--Addison, Steele, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and others--The second volume of the Tatler dedicated to him by Steele--Montagu a staunch Whig--His paternal interest for Lady Mary does not endure--He becomes a suitor for her hand--Lady Mary's devotion and respect for him--Her flirtations--She and Montagu correspond through the medium of his sister, Anne--Lady Mary's mordant humour--Her delight in retailing society scandal--The death of Anne Wortley--Lady Mary and Montagu henceforth communicate direct--Her first letter to him

CHAPTER III. Courtship, Elopement, and Marriage (1710-1712)

COURTSHIP, ELOPEMENT, AND MARRIAGE (1710-1712)

A lengthy courtship--Montagu a laggard lover--Lady Mary and Montagu exchange views on married life--Montagu proposes for her to Lord Dorchester--Dorchester refuses, since Montagu will not make settlements--Montagu's views on settlements expressed (by Steele) in the Tatler--Although not engaged, the young people continue to correspond--Lord Dorchester produces another suitor of his daughter--She consents to an engagement--The preparations for the wedding--She confides the whole story to Montagu--She breaks off the engagement--She and Montagu decide to elope--She runs up to London--Marriage--Lady Mary's diary destroyed by her sister, Lady Frances Pierrepont

CHAPTER IV. Early Married Life (1712-1714)

EARLY MARRIED LIFE (1712-1714)

An uneventful existence--Montagu's Parliamentary duties take him to London--Lady Mary stays mostly in the country--Correspondence--Montagu a careless husband, but very careful of his money--Later he becomes a miser--Lady Mary does not disguise the tedium of her existence-- Concerning a possible reconciliation with her father--Lord Pierrepont of Hanslope--Lord Halifax--Birth of a son, christened after his father, Edward Wortley Montagu--The mother's anxiety about his health--Family events--Lady Evelyn Pierrepont marries Baron (afterwards Earl) Gower--Lady Frances Pierrepont marries the Earl of Mar--Lord Dorchester marries again--Has issue, two daughters--The death of Lady Mary's brother, William. His son, Evelyn, in due course succeeds to the Dukedom of Kingston--Elizabeth Chudleigh--The political situation in 1714--The death of Queen Anne--The accession of George I--The unrest in the country--Lady Mary's alarm for her son

CHAPTER V. The Accession of George I (1714)

THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I (1714)

Lady Mary shows an increasing interest in politics--She tries to incite her husband to be ambitious--Montagu not returned to the new Parliament--His lack of energy--Correspondence--The Council of Regency--The King commands Lord Townshend to form a Government--The Cabinet--Lord Halifax, First Lord of the Treasury--Montagu appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury--Correspondence--The unsatisfactory relations between Lady Mary and Montagu

CHAPTER VI. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Account of the Court of George I

LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU'S ACCOUNT OF THE COURT OF GEORGE I

CHAPTER VII

AT HERRENHAUSEN AND ST. JAMES (1714-1716)

The Elector George Lewis not delighted at his accession to the British throne--A greater man in Hanover than in London--Lady Mary modifies her first impression of the King--She is in high favour at Court--An amusing incident at St. James's--The early unpopularity of George I in England generally, and especially in the capital--The Hanoverians in the Royal Household--The Duchess of Kendal--The Countess of Darlington--Lady Mary's description of the Hanoverian ladies--The Duchess of Kendal's passion for money--Her influence with the King in political matters-- Count de Broglie--The scandal about Lady Darlington refuted--Lady Mary and the Prince of Wales--The King and the Prince of Wales--The poets and wits of the day--Gray's tribute to Lady Mary--Pope's verses on her--"Court Poems"

CHAPTER VIII. The Embassy to the Porte (1716-1718)--I

THE EMBASSY TO THE PORTE (1716-1718)--I

Montagu loses his place at the Treasury--His antagonism against Walpole--Lady Mary, "Dolly" Walpole, and Molly Skerritt--The Earl and Countess of Mar leave England--Montagu appointed Ambassador to the Porte--Leaves England for Constantinople, accompanied by his wife-- Letters during the Embassy to Constantinople--Rotterdam--Vienna--Lady Mary at Court--Her gown--Her interest in clothes--Viennese society-- Gallantry--Lady Mary's experience--Court Tarrocco--Precedence at Vienna--A nunnery--The Montagus visit the German Courts--A dangerous drive--Prince Frederick (afterwards Prince of Wales)--Herrenhausen

CHAPTER IX. The Embassy to the Ports (1716-1718)--Ii

THE EMBASSY TO THE PORTS (1716-1718)--II

Adrianople--Turkish baths--Lady Mary wears Turkish dress--Her description of the costume--Her views on Turkish women--She becomes acquainted with the practice of inoculation--Her son engrafted--Her belief in the operation--She later introduces it into England--Dr. Richard Mead--Richard Steele supports her campaign--Constantinople--Lady Mary homesick--Exposes the British ignorance of Turkish life--Montagu recalled--Addison's private letter to him--Lady Mary gives birth to a daughter--The return journey--The Montagus at Paris--Lady Mary sees her sister, Lady Mar

CHAPTER X. A Scandal

A SCANDAL

Montagu re-enters the House of Commons--His miserliness--Pope refers to it--Comments on Society--Lady Mary and a first-class scandal--Rémond-- His admiration for her--Her imprudent letters to him--The South Sea Bubble--Lady Mary speculates for Remond--She loses money for him--He demands to be re-imbursed--He threatens to publish her letters--She states the case in letters to Lady Mar--Lady Mary meets Pope--His letters to her when she was abroad--He affects to be in love with her--Her matter-of-fact replies--Her parody of his verses, "On John Hughes and Sarah Drew"

CHAPTER XI. At Twickenham

AT TWICKENHAM

The Montagus take a house at Twickenham--Lady Mary's liking for country life--Neighbours and visitors--Pope--Bononcini, Anastasia Robinson, Senesino--Lord Peterborough--Sir Geoffrey Kneller--Henrietta Howard--Lord Bathurst--The Duke of Wharton--His early history--He comes to Twickenham--His relations with Lady Mary--Horace Walpole's reference to them--Pope's bitter onsaught on the Duke--An Epilogue by Lady Mary--"On the Death of Mrs. Bowes"--The Duke quarrels with Lady Mary

CHAPTER XII. A Famous Quarrel

A FAMOUS QUARREL

Pope and Lady Mary--He pays her compliments--His jealousy of her other admirers--The cause of his quarrel with her--His malicious attacks on her thereafter--Writer of her as "Sappho"--Lady Mary asks Arbuthnot to protect her--Molly Skerritt--Lady Stafford--Lady Mar's malicious tongue and pen--Mrs. Murray--"An Epistle from Arthur Grey"--Lady Mary, Lord Hervey, and Molly Lepell--Death of the Earl of Kingston--Lady Gower--Lady Mar--Marriage of Lady Mary's daughter

CHAPTER XIII. On the Continent (1739-1744)

ON THE CONTINENT (1739-1744)

Lady Mary leaves England--She does not return for twenty years Montagu supposed to join her--The domestic relations of the Montagus--A septennial act for marriage--Lady Mary corresponds with her husband--Dijon--Turin--Venice--Bologna--Florence--The Monastery of La Trappe--Horace Walpole at Florence--His comments on Lady Mary and her friends--Reasons for his dislike of her--Rome--The Young Pretender and Henry, Cardinal York--Wanderings--Cheapness of life in Italy--Lady Mary's son, Edward--He is a great trouble to his parents--His absurd marriage--His extravagance and folly--Account of his early years--He visits Lady Mary at Valence--Her account of the interviews

CHAPTER XIV. Lady Mary As a Reader

LADY MARY AS A READER

Her fondness for reading--Her difficulty to get enough books while abroad--Lady Bute keeps her supplied--Lady Mary's catholic taste in literature--Samuel Richardson--The vogue of Clarissa Harlowe--Lady Mary tells a story of the Richardson type--Henry Fielding--Joseph Andrews--Tom Jones--Her high opinion of Fielding and Steele--Tobias Smollett--Peregrins Pickle--Lady Vare's Memoirs of a Lady of Quality--Sarah Fielding--Minor writers--Lord Orrery's Remarks on Swift--Bolingbroke's works--Addison and Pope--Dr. Johnson

CHAPTER XV. Lady Mary on Education and Woman's Rights

LADY MARY ON EDUCATION AND WOMAN'S RIGHTS

The choice of books for children's reading--The dangers of a narrow education--Lady Mary advocates the higher education of women--Girls should be taught languages--Lady Mary's theories of education for girls--Women writers in Italy--A "rumpus" made by ladies in the House of Lords--Woman's Rights--Lady Mary's views on religion

CHAPTER XVI. On the Continent (1745-1760)

ON THE CONTINENT (1745-1760)

Lady Mary stays at Avignon--She removes to Brescia--And then to Lovere--She abandons all idea of Montagu joining her abroad--Her house at Lovere--Her daily round--Her health--Her anxiety about her son--An amazing incident--A serious illness--A novel in a letter--Her correspondence attracts the attention of the Italian authorities--Sir James and Lady Frances Steuart--Politics--She is in the bad books of the British Resident at Venice--Lord Bute--The philosophy of Lady Mary--Letters to Lady Bute and Sir James Steuart

CHAPTER XVII. Last Years (1760-1762)

LAST YEARS (1760-1762)

Lady Mary writes the history of her own times--Her health--Death of Edward Wortley Montagu--His will--Lady Mary ponders the idea of returning to England--She leaves Italy--She is held up at Rotterdam--She reaches London--Horace Walpole visits her--Her last illness--Her fortitude--Her death--She leaves one guinea to her son

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (age 8) at the Kit-Cat Club--Frontispiece

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Lady Mary Pierrepont

Evelyn Pierrepont, first Duke of Kingston

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 1720

Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Frances, Countess of Mar

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Alexander Pope

Joseph Addison

Henrietta Louisa, Countess of Pomfret

Horace Walpole

John, Lord Hervey of Ickworth

Mary, Countess of Bute

Edward Wortley Montagu, Junior

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu:

Her Life and Letters

(1689-1762)

CHAPTER I. Childhood (1689-1703)

CHILDHOOD (1689-1703)

Birth of Mary Pierrepont, after Lady Mary Wortley Montagu--Account of the Pierrepont family--Lady Mary's immediate ancestors--Her father, Evelyn Pierrepont, succeeds to the Earldom of Kingston in 1690--The extinct marquisate of Dorchester revived in his favour--His marriage--Issue of the marriage--Death of his wife--Lady Mary stays with her grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Pierrepont--Her early taste for reading--She learns Latin, and, presently, Italian--Encouraged in her literary ambitions by her uncle, William Feilding, and Bishop Bumet--Submits to the Bishop a translation of "Encheiridion" of Epictetus--An attractve child--A "toast" at the Kit-Cat Club--Acts as hostess to her father.

Mary Pierrepont, afterwards Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, was born in May, 1689, and was baptised on the twenty-sixth day of that month at St. Paul's, Covent Garden. In the register is the entry: "Mary, daughter of Evelyn Pierrepoint, Esquire, and Lady Mary, his wife."

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