MONTAG U MONT A 1G NE. 



41 



19, 1715. The poems and speeches of lord Halifax 

 were published, with biographical memoirs, in 1715 

 (8vo); and the former were included in the edition 

 of English Poets, by doctor Johnson. He aspired to 

 the character of the Maecenas of his age, and his 

 patronage of Addison is creditable to his discrimina- 

 tion, though little can be said in praise of his muni- 

 ficence. 



MONTAGU, LADY MARY WORTLEY, one of the 

 most celebrated among the female literary charac- 

 ters of England, was the eldest daughter of Evelyn, 

 duke of Kingston, by his wife lady Mary Fielding, 

 the daughter of the earl of Denbigh. She was born 

 about 1090, at Thoresby, in Nottinghamshire, and 

 displaying uncommon abilities at an early age, was 

 educated upon a liberal plan, and instructed by the 

 same masters as her brother, in the Greek, Latin, 

 and French languages. In her twentieth year, she 

 gave an extraordinary proof of her erudition, by a 

 translation of the Enchiridion of Epictetus, which 

 was revised by bishop Burnet, by whom her educa- 

 tion was ultimately superintended. Her mind was 

 nourished in great comparative retirement, previ- 

 ously to her marriage, in 1712, with Edward Wortley 

 Montagu. Even after her marriage, she lived chiefly 

 at her husband's seat of Wharnclifle, near Sheffield, 

 until the latter, being introduced to a seat in the 

 treasury, by the earl of Halifax (see the preceding 

 article), brought his lady to London. Being thus 

 placed in the sphere of the court, she attracted that 

 admiration which beauty and elegance, joined to wit 

 and the charms of conversation, never fail to inspire. 

 Site became familiarly acquainted with Addison, 

 Pope, and other distinguished writers. In 1716, Mr 

 Wortley being appointed ambassador to the Porte, 

 lady Mary determined to accompany him, and hence 

 her admirable correspondence, chiefly consisting of 

 letters addressed to the countess of Mar, lady Rich, 

 and Mr Pope; to whom she communicated her 

 observations on the new and interesting scenes to 

 which she was a witness. On many occasions she 

 displayed a mind superior to common prejudices, 

 but in none so happily as in a courageous adoption 

 of the Turkish practice of inoculation for the small- 

 pox in the case of her own son, and a zealous pa- 

 tronage of its introduction into England. In 1718, 

 Mr Wortley returned to England, and at the request 

 of Pope, lady Mary took up her summer residence 

 at Twickenham, and a friendship was formed between 

 these kindred geniuses, which gradually gave way 

 to dislike, produced by difference of political opin- 

 ion, petulance and irritability on the side of the 

 poet, and no small disposition to sarcastic keenness on 

 that of the lady; and a literary war ensued, which 

 did honour to neither party. ' Lady Mary preserved 

 her ascendency in the world of rank and fashion 

 until 1739, when, her health declining, she took the 

 resolution of passing the remainder of her days on 

 the continent, not without the world surmising that 

 other causes concurred to induce her to form this 

 resolution. She, however, retired with the full con- 

 currence of her husband, with whom her subsequent 

 correspondence betrays neither resentment nor humi- 

 liation. Venice, Avignon, and Chamberry were, 

 in turn, her residence, until the death of Mr Wort- 

 ley, in 1761, when she complied with the solicitations 

 of her daughter, the countess of Bute, and returned 

 to England, after an absence of twenty-two years. 

 She enjoyed a renewal of family intercourse for a 

 short time only, as she died of a gradual decay, in 

 1762, aged seventy-two. As a poetess, lady Mary 

 Wortley Montagu exhibits ease, and some powers of 

 description; but she is negligent and incorrect. The 

 principal of her performances in this class is her 

 Town Eclogues, a satirical parody of the common 



pastoral, applied to fashionable life and manners. 

 As a letter-writer, her fame stands very high ; her 

 letters were collected and copied by herself, and 

 presented, in 1766, to the reverend Mr Sowden, ol 

 Amsterdam, of whom they were purchased by the 

 earl of Bute : a surreptitious copy of them was 

 published in 1763, in three vols., 12mo. The au- 

 thenticity of these letters, which obtained universal 

 admiration for their wit, judgment, and descriptive 

 powers, was, for a long time, doubted ; but all dis- 

 trust was done away by the following publication, 

 under the sanction of the earl of Bute : the Works 

 of the Right Honourable Lady Mary Wortley 

 Montagu, including her Correspondence, Poems, and 

 Essays, published by permission from her genuine 

 papers (London, 1803, 6 vols., 12mo), with a Life, 

 by Mr Dallaway. This edition contains many ad- 

 ditional letters, written in the latter part of her life, 

 which display much excellent sense and solid reflec- 

 tion, although tinged with some of the prejudices of 

 rank, and indicative of increasing misanthropy. 



MONTAGU, EDWARD WORTLEY, the only son of 

 the subject of the preceding article, was born in 

 1713. At an early age, he was sent to Westminster 

 school, from which he ran away three times, and, 

 associating himself with the lowest classes of society, 

 passed through some extraordinary adventures, sailed 

 to Spain as a cabin-boy, and was at length discovered 

 by the British consul at Cadiz, and restored to his 

 family. A private tutor was then provided for him, 

 with whom he travelled on the continent. During 

 his residence abroad, he wrote a tract, entitled Re- 

 flections on the Rise and Fall of Ancient Republics. 

 On his return to England, he obtained a seat in the 

 house of commons ; but, living extravagantly, he 

 became involved in debt, and left his native country 

 never to return. His future conduct was marked by 

 eccentricities not less extraordinary than those by 

 which he had been distinguished in the early part of 

 his life. He went to Italy, where he professed the 

 Roman Catholic religion; and from that he aposta- 

 tized to become a disciple of Mohammed, and a 

 scrupulous practiser of the formalities of Islamism. 

 After passing many years in Egypt, and other coun- 

 tries bordering on the Mediterranean, he was about 

 to return to England, when his death took place at 

 Padua, in Italy, in 1776. He was the author of an 

 Examination into the Causes of Earthquakes, and 

 some papers in the Philosophical Transactions. 



MONTAGU, ELIZABETH, a lady of literary cele- 

 brity, was the daughter of Matthew Robinson, of 

 the Rokeby family, and was born in 1720. She had 

 an opportunity of prosecuting her studies under the 

 direction of doctor Conyers Middleton, to whom she 

 was probably indebted for the tincture of learning 

 which so remarkably influenced her character and 

 manners. In 1742, she became the wife of Mr 

 Montagu, who left her mistress of a handsome for- 

 tune, which enabled her to gratify her taste for 

 study and literary society. In 1769, she published 

 an Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakspeare. 

 This work raised Mrs Montagu to the rank of an 

 arbitress of public taste. She opened her house, in 

 Portman-square, to the Blue Stocking Club a so- 

 ciety so denominated from a peculiarity in the 

 dress of Mr Benjamin Stillingfleet, one of the mem- 

 bers ; and carried on an epistolary correspondence 

 with men of letters, published after her death, August 

 25, 1800. 



MONTAIGNE, MICHEL DE, one of the most in- 

 genious and ingenuous of French writers, was born 

 Feb. 28, 1533, at the castle of the same name, be- 

 longing to his family, in Perigord. His father, 

 Pierre Eyghem, seigneur de Montaigne, an English- 

 man by birth, and a brave soldier, wno had oeen 



